Darkness Comes To Light
by Milaya Milen Zeal
Summary: X and Zero are sent to Gate's old lab to stop Mavericks from tearing the place apart, but they find something they certainly didn't expect. [YAOI X&Zero D. X&D.Zero Axl&D.Axl]
1. Well this is interesting

****

Z: This was a small idea that's been in my head for awhile. What would happen if X and Zero met Dark X and Dark Zero (see bio for information and art site for picture)?

D. Zero: Well, there's going to be a lot of trouble if I know you.

Z: Shouldn't I be saying that about you? You're the one always getting into trouble.

D. Zero: AM NOT!!!

Z: Whatever. Anyway… this fic also contains yaoi…

D. X: [gasp] No!! Really?!!?

Z: [sighs and clocks D. X with a frying pan]

D. X: OW!!!

Z: And this will have lemon as well, but here on FF.net, it'll be a little less… vivid…

D. Zero: Big surprise.

RCM: [walks into the room] Uh… Zeal? Are you going to finish your other fics too?

Z: Of course! But I had this on my mind for a long time and I couldn't get it out!

RCM: Oh, okay. As long as you finish them.

Night. Z: Tha'll take some time.

Everyone but Night. Z: SHUT UP NIGHTMARE!!!!

**__**

Darkness comes to Light

Chapter 1 X's POV: Well this is interesting…

MHHQ is always busy this time of the day, and today is no exception. Everyone's up and about, doing this or that, trying not to run into each other in the meantime. To any viewer, it would've been hilarious, but to me, it's lost its fun. I admit, once or twice, it's okay, but seeing people crash into each other about twenty times a day, that's a little too much. Even Zero's starting to complain about it, so hey, it really must be getting boring.

Sometimes, I wonder about that guy. Really. There's little we know about his past, and if I have to believe Zero, he doesn't even remember himself. If you ask me, he knows plenty but refuses to tell anyone, even me! I doubt he's even told Iris.

Oh yeah… Iris. Totally forgot about her. Damn it. I don't know what it is about her, but something about her just… it ticks me off. Of course, I don't let it show (most of the times). I didn't even show my anger at her snatching _my_ best friend away from me. Because that's practically what she did. 

The second Zero saw her, all his attention was focussed on her, and he just seemed to forget about me. I tried to get his attention again, but all that bozo saw was her! And of course, she noticed him looking and smiled at us, or more at him actually. She then walked over and started talking to Zero, acting like I wasn't even there. I swear, I could've shouted at the top of my lungs and Zero wouldn't have heard me.

So, well, I left.

Easy as that. I left.

He never noticed me leave. And once I managed to find him again, which was about a week later, he seemed to have plainly forgotten I exist at all. He ignored me as I sat down next to him outside of HQ, simply staring up at the sky with a look I couldn't describe. He didn't even respond when I called out his name. Only when I clocked him to his head did he finally acknowledge me.

"Hey, X! What the hell was that for?!" he demanded, rubbing his sore head. 

Okay, usually, I don't get angry at Zero. I can take his crap better than others can, but right now, I felt as though he was purposely ripping me apart. If I find out he did it on purpose, I'll seriously mangle him up during his sleep! Can't kill the guy, don't know why.

But like I said, Zero was, of course, totally clueless about why I clocked him, so I got angry. Really angry. I mean, be rational people, if your best friend ignores you for a week, and he doesn't acknowledge you when you talk to him, you hit him, and then he has the nerve to ask why you clocked him, wouldn't you be pissed? Yeah, I figured as much.

But I caught him off guard by getting angry, which I never do unless it involves Mavericks. I started shouting at him, and he stared at me as I did, mouth agape and his eyes wide at my anger. I practically shot up form my seat to tower out above Zero, showing him that no amount of words was going to calm me down.

I screamed at him, whatever I had screamed, I don't know, it's hard to grasp now, but whatever it was, Zero tried to butt in multiple times. Saying stuff like "X, calm down", or "X, listen to me". And I would shout stuff back like "No I won't calm down", or "No! You listen to _me_!" Stuff like that you know.

But even though I was angry with him, I was hurt even more. Years ago, we vowed to always be best friends no matter what happened, and now Zero had practically thrown that all out the window by ignoring me completely. 

So, once I was finished, I waited for Zero to speak up, to say _anything _to reassure me that he still wanted to be my friend. That he didn't want to wash it all down the drain. But I half-expected him to be angry with me for blowing up on him in the first place. 

But he did nothing.

Nothing.

No reassuring words, no tantrum, no nothing.

Minutes passed, but when ten had passed, and he still hadn't done anything, I did the worst thing I could ever do; I broke the promise myself.

"Know what, Zero? If you appreciate Iris' company more than mine, than you can forget about us being friends at all! I don't even want to be your partner anymore!!"

That got a reaction. He gasped and shot up, grabbing my shoulders in his hands.

"X, listen already!!"

"NO!!! LET ME GO!!! LET GO!!!!" I screamed, and kicked him, hard.

Zero doubled over, and I took that moment to run. Back to HQ, to the safety of my room, ignoring Zero's desperate calls to get me to stop. Once I got into my room, I immediately changed the code to my room, making sure Zero couldn't come in at all.

My breathing was erratic as I leaned against the door, needing something to keep me to my feet. Usually, it would be Zero keeping me up, but now he was no longer there. And it was my own damn fault. I really started to regret what I did, but I knew I had no way to turn it back around.

If I could, I would've, but the fact was, I couldn't.

Somehow, I don't remember how, I found my way to my bed, and collapsed, letting loose all the tears I had been holding in. I curled up, pulling a pillow close to my chest. I buried my face in it, trying to picture it being Zero's shoulder instead. Whenever I needed to let it all out, Zero always pulled me to him and let me cry on his shoulder. I needed that now. Very much so. 

I staid there for so long, and I stopped trying to figure out just how long I'd been there. I didn't get up to eat, nor did I manage to sleep. Whenever I tried, I woke up moments later, not feeling any rested, and instead, feeling more tired than before. 

The pain tearing through my body was something I couldn't bear, and I really needed Zero here. I needed him so much, that I searched my entire room for _anything_ with Zero's scent on him. Somewhere around my room, I managed to find one of his old shirts, and, thank god, it still had his scent all over it. I pulled it over my head, not caring if it was too big for me, and finally managed to fall asleep, his scent having that big an effect on me. I was burning up, but I couldn't care.

I dreamed of him. I dreamed of when things were the way they had been before that argument. I was in his arms, crying in his shoulder again, and he was whispering to me that everything would be all right, that it was okay…

I slept for a long time, just laying there, wrapped up in his scent, how I wanted things to be again. A small part of my mind told me that was impossible however, that I'd lost him for good and could never get him back again, all because I couldn't control my temper.

I told it to take a hike.

Whenever I ran out of scent, I desperately searched for him, almost begging him not to leave me alone, going into a crazed frenzy. And whenever I found him, I would fall back into my dreamy state, just drinking in his scent. [A/N: A friend of mine did this when she and her boyfriend broke up]

I didn't respond to anyone coming to my room, begging me to come out. It was always Alia, Signas, or Douglas coming to me to try and get me out of my room, but I wanted neither of them. I wanted Zero, goddamnit!! But I don't think they understood, and they kept trying.

Yet I remained in a state in between sleep and awareness, unable to distinguish dreams from reality, and vice versa. I simply hovered in that state, basking entirely in Zero's scent, begging silently for whatever was up there to bring him back to me.

My prayers were soon answered.

A soft knock sounded from the door, but like so many other times, I ignored it. But when it came again, and no words came, I took notice that the knock was hesitant, as if whoever was on the other side was nervous about something. Slowly, I rolled over on the bed, staring at the door, still clutching Zero's shirt in my grasp, as if I could open it from a distance and see who was so hesitant about seeing me. When a voice finally came, it was just as hesitant and nervous.

"X? Are you up? I… I really need to talk to you."

My breath hitched slightly, as I slowly pushed myself up.

"…Zero??" I murmured, almost ready to get up again.

It took a few seconds for him to answer again… and it sounded like he was really nervous about talking to me.

"Y-yeah… it's me… please, open the door, X…"

"……O… okay…"

I stumbled up from the bed, slowly making my way to the door, still holding his shirt tightly. It seemed to take an eternity to reach the door, but somehow, I managed and opened the door. He stood there, looking down at the floor, before turning his face up to look at me. He really looked nervous about something. 

"Hey," was all he managed to get out.

I couldn't even speak, because it was almost too much seeing him stand there. I almost threw myself at him back then, but I was wiser than that. The urge was there though.

"C-can I come in?" 

I gulped down whatever was blocking my throat, and just managed a small nod. I stepped aside so that he could enter, and once he was inside, I closed the door again. I turned to him, clutching his shirt to my chest like it was the only thing left keeping me alive. 

Zero gulped a little nervously, before he turned to face me. 

"Look, X, about Iris…"

I shook rather clearly, trying to stay on my feet, but almost unable to. My grip on his shirt only tightened as Zero seemed to weigh his words carefully.

"X… there's nothing going on between her and me. I just… I just had the strangest feeling like I saw her somewhere before. Like… like… uh… oh heck… I'm not good with this…"

I managed a slight giggle at Zero's frustration, and that seemed to lighten the mood just a little bit. 

"X… look… I'm sorry about what happened, but I just needed to figure out where I saw Iris before, and… well…"

Zero looked around for a moment, as if he expected there to be cameras somewhere. Alright, now I was curious, and I think it showed. 

Zero pulled out a picture from his pocket, and held it out to me, whispering: "Check _this_ out!"

I gingerly took the picture from him with slightly shaking hands, took one look at the picture… and could barely contain my laughter. Zero seemed to enjoy it as well and walked up to beside me.

"Just happened to walk past the book-store. Was lying right in front of me."

I smiled, first smile in days probably, I don't know, but at the moment, I couldn't really care. The most important thing was that Zero was there, with me. That was the only thing that mattered to me at the moment.

But he saw I'd been crying, and he seemed to know that he was the cause of my tears. So, he did what he usually did whenever I cried; namely, he embraced me and just held me.

He said nothing, but I didn't need any of it. I just needed _him_.

That was about… 10 months ago, and we're back to being best friends at the moment. Zero was being plagued by Iris time and time again, but he kept brushing her off if he was talking to me.

But anyway, that's over and done with now, and at the moment, there wasn't much for me to do. Zero's in his room, taking care of some paperwork that's due this afternoon. He always does that stuff at the last moment, don't ask why, I don't know. I always tell him to do it the second he gets it, but he just refuses to listen. Don't really blame him; he's always been one hell of a stubborn prick.

Like I already said, a lot of people are calm at this time of the day, and nobody expects the Mavericks to attack. The last Maverick attack had been two days ago, so everyone knew they had to recuperate. I did too, but I couldn't be too sure of anything nowadays. Gate already told me (he managed to recover, but he's still in custody) that there was a mysterious aura surrounding his lab when he had gotten there from the Eurasia crash-site, but he had found nothing when examining it. 

Gate seems to trust me now, after I managed to knock some sense into him. Alia seems to like him, very much so. I don't blame her. Gate's a nice guy, it's just that he's been a crazy psycho because of Zero's DNA. How'd that even happen?

But I long ago decided to just drop it.

As I already said, people weren't expecting an attack… and three guesses what happened.

Right, we got attacked. And not just by any old Maverick. It wasn't anyone we knew (and I'm thinking of Sigma here *shudder*), but they seemed to have a clear goal at hand. 

They were attacking Gate's old lab.

Even though it had been meant to be destroyed, people ended up rebuilding it instead. And by the looks of it, the Mavericks didn't like the idea. 

Both Zero and myself immediately rushed to the war-room, where Signas was staring at a screen, and Alia was working vigorously with the computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard. I swear, I've never seen anyone type that fast. But then again, Alia also typed a lot of mistakes. Almost cost people's lives out there more than once. 

Anyway, Signas goes on and about, about some kind of seemingly meaningless attack on Gate's old lab, but I'll safe you people the boring lecture. I almost fell asleep myself with that, geez! Signas really has a one-track voice, much like Zero has a one-track mind when faced with battle. Fight first, then think.

But in any case, Signas sent us out to take out the problem. It didn't take us long to get there, but the sight that greeted us was one we had not expected. All robots and Mavericks we faced seemed to be searching something whilst destroying everything they encountered, and it left us rather confused.

"Those bastards are looking for something," Zero mumbled.

"I know… but what?"

Zero simply shrugged his shoulders to show that he didn't know. 

"I think it's best we split up, okay?" Zero suggested, saber in hand.

I noticed the grip on his saber was slightly stronger than it usually was, signaling that he was beginning to worry. It's the small changes in his behavior that give his emotions away, but he doesn't seem to notice himself. 

I gingerly place my hand over the hand holding his saber. This caused him to look at me in surprise. I simply offered a smile, before I rushed off into the compound without a word. There was no need for words. It's a little something between best friends. You can understand each other without the use of words. Before, I was never able to understand, but ever since I met… no, that's not right… ever since I had gotten to _know_ Zero, I understood. Man, he'd been one stubborn prick when we first met.

We fought a little (just for training, you know), and we kept to each other mostly. But Cain (jerk) had paired Zero and me up in one room, and neither of us had been too pleased with it. It never lasted all that long, but that short amount of time was enough for us to get to know each other.

Hey whoa!! I'm supposed to be busy with a mission here!! Not remember how Zero and I met!! 

C'mon X!! Focus! FOCUS!!!

…

……

Thank you!

I continued on, blasting numerous Mavericks and other robots into nothing but scrap within seconds, and continued to run. And if my internal clock hadn't been playing tricks on me, I'd been running for about… uh… 12, 13 minutes or so, when I had been able to pick it up.

A beacon.

A very weak one, but it was there. Someone was in need of help. It was much too weak to have been picked up by MHHQ, but I'm sure those Mavericks managed to get the message. So that's what they were doing here. It all makes sense now.

I began to make my way through the place, but came to a halt near some sort of barrier. It was a deep purplish tint, and it crackled and sparked with electricity of about the same color, if not a few shades lighter or darker. A lot of Maverick corpses, along with robotic ones, lay at the edge, seemingly almost burned to ashes. Ignoring them, I walked over to the barrier, and tapped at it with a finger. 

Surprisingly, it wriggled slightly as I poked it slightly. Smiling, I placed my hand on it, a little stunned to find it warm to the touch. As I looked at my palm, I noticed nothing wrong, so I took a chance and stepped through. 

Nothing happened.

I just got out on the other side.

The barrier was still in place, as I noticed when looking back. I started walking toward the center, feeling the beacon increasing as I moved. I was getting closer, that much was clear. But when I reached the source… I was flabbergasted.

"Zero?!!?"

Can you blame me for shouting? I saw my best friend lying on the ground, on his side, in one of those stable positions I read about in certain books. It was the position a victim of a motor- or car-accident had to be in to avoid blood coming in his/her lungs, if even possible. GACK!! I'm leaving the subject!!

I ran over to him, and was about to shake him into awareness, when it suddenly registered.

Whoever this guy was, he was _not_ Zero!

He looked exactly the same, but his hair was a shimmering cornblond, and his entire armor was a pitch black. His jumpsuit on the other hand, was stark white, and all three gems he had were a deep blood red, much like the joints and those shiny gauntlets at his wrists. Not only that, but he seems to be about 3 or 4 inches bigger than when I last saw him.

Right, what the hell was going on around here?!

"Hey!! Hey wake up!!!" I shouted, and shook the Reploid, barely missing the sheath of a beam-saber on his back.

Yep, he was definitely like Zero.

The shaking made him groan, but he sounded older than the Zero I knew; though it was practically the same. Two eyelids fluttered ever so slightly, and his head raised slightly, eyes half-closed… but it was enough to scare me. 

His eyes… they were red… bloodruby to be exact…

He blinked, as if confused, then opened his mouth slightly.

"…X??"

A single syllable… but he knew who I was. How? I don't know. I really don't.

"You have to get up!! It's not safe here! Come on!!" I said instead, beginning to pull at his arm to get him up.

Strangely enough, he wasn't all that heavy, but he could barely stand. He practically tumbled back to the ground again when I released him. 

"Hey! Don't think I'm going to carry you!!! Come on!! Up up up!!"

No way was I going to carry him! Who'd he think he was?!

"Can't… too… tired… frackit…"

And he passed out. Just like that. Passed out cold without a warning. I managed to get a hold of him, but nevertheless, I had no intentions of carrying him out of here. But the question was; how was I going to do that?

I wasn't sure if I could teleport out of here, but I had to try. I closed my eyes, and clutched this dark Reploid tight, hoping that I could take him with me. 

And somehow… I made it back to MHHQ, unscathed.

Lifesaver practically flipped when he saw what I brought home, and everyone was demanding explanations I didn't have. I had to wait for Zero to get back, because I knew that the Reploid I brought back was _not_ Zero.

I waited in my room, knowing that once Zero's done, he'll most likely come see me. I had to confront him with this head-on. This couldn't wait.

Just as I expected, Zero stormed in about 20 minutes after I returned. I jumped up from the couch and immediately opened my mouth… same time he did.

"Zero/X!! You're not going to believe what just---Huh?!?!"

We were both dumstruck that we both said the same thing at the same time, and it made us stand there for awhile, not saying anything. But then it started again.

"What do you mean I'm not going to---Will you knock it off!?!? NO!! _You_ knock it off!!"

It took a few minutes for us to realize what we were doing and I groaned and dragged a hand over my face.

"Ugh! You go first!" I mumbled. 

"Okay, but you might want to take a seat first," Zero said warningly.

"Nah, don't bother. I don't think anything can shock me today."

Zero blinked for a moment.

"Well, what if I told you I found a Reploid who's completely identical to you safe for the darker armor?"

……

Had I been able to, I would've had a heart attack, but as it was, I simply froze up, staring at him.

Once I found my voice though…

"Well this is interesting…"


	2. Took the words right out of my mouth

**__**

Darkness comes to Light

Chapter 2 Zero's POV: Took the words right out of my mouth…

God, MHHQ is so goddamn boring this time of day! It's always busy, and no one is paying any attention to anyone, which is why everyone keeps bumping into others. Usually, I'm not one to complain about it all, as I rather enjoy seeing people crash to the ground and break their tailbones, but 20 times a day is just far too much for me. Yeah, X's been complaining about it as well, but then again, he complains way more than me.

X… he confuses me sometimes. He's a real enigma, and I don't like those things. They always force you to see every piece of the puzzle before you're able to understand what the puzzle means. And well, whenever I think I understand X, another piece of the puzzle appears before me and makes me all confused. But strangely, with X, I don't mind trying to puzzle everything together. I don't have that much patience, everyone knows that, but with X, I can seemingly wait forever. People find that strange, especially Iris.

Oh, right… Iris. Totally forgot about her. Oh don't get me wrong, I have nothing against her! But she's just too cheery for me. Too… sugary sweet. Yuck. But X seemed to dislike her as well. Yes, I figured out X didn't like Iris ever since we first met her. I didn't think too much of it back then, but now, I wish I had. 

Second I saw that girl, I couldn't get my eyes off her, because I had the strangest sense of recognition. I don't know what it was, but she just seemed so familiar to me. X tried to get my attention again, but I _had_ to figure out where I saw her before. But she noticed me looking and she smiled, walking over to us. I doubt she even noticed X standing beside me. She talked to me for some time, before X suddenly stalked off. I could easily see the hitch in his step, and I knew I really ruined it.

After gingerly telling Iris I had to talk to X (and getting rid of her, which took some time), I went in search of that Blue Bomber. But no matter where I looked, I just couldn't find him. It just had me confused. X never walked away from anyone, no matter how embarrassing a conversation could get. So there was another piece I found and had to puzzle together. 

But that's hard when you're working on two puzzles at the same time. But I still managed. About a week after the first meeting with Iris, I was sitting on a bench outside of MHHQ, thinking about those two puzzles again. Also, whenever I'm working on those things, I tend to ignore everything happening around me, which is most likely why I never noticed X sitting down beside me. So, well, when he clocked me, I was very much startled from my little 'trance'. 

"Hey, X! What the hell was that for?!" I demanded, rubbing my sore head.

A little too late did I realize that was the wrong thing to say.

Retrospection… loathe it, really.

X shook violently and his face contorted in a deep frown. His eyes were sparking with both anger and unshed tears, as he practically shot up and started screaming at me. And that really caught me by surprise. He's never angry unless it concerns Mavericks, but I most likely pushed him over the edge.

I really tried to calm him down, but he kept interrupting me, telling me to listen to him. When he finally stopped yelling, I tried to think of what to say, but everything I'd tried to tell him escaped me. Just like that. I lost all the words I needed at the moment.

Minutes passed, and I could still not find the words I needed. But when ten minutes had passed, and neither of us had spoken a word, he broke the silence with the one thing I hadn't expected.

"Know what, Zero? If you appreciate Iris' company more than mine, than you can forget about us being friends at all! I don't even want to be your partner anymore!!"

That got a reaction from me. Years ago, we vowed to always be best friends no matter what happened, and now X was just going to throw it all out the window?! I gasped and shot up, grabbing his shoulders with my hands.

"X, listen already!!" I tried to reason with him

"NO!!! LET ME GO!!! LET GO!!!!" 

Before I knew what happened, X had kicked me, hard. It caused me to double over, giving X the chance to run. I shouted after him to wait as he ran away, back to HQ. I knew it was hopeless to chase him though, but I still ran after him, hoping to stop him. But as I expected, it was impossible. Not only did he have too much of a head-start, he also locked himself up in his room, changing the code so I couldn't get in. 

As I sighed, leaning against the door, I sighed softly. 

Way to go, Zero.

Now what're you going to do, huh?

Well, the first thing I had to do, was give X some space. Let him cool down, you know. And in the meantime, I could actually get to work on the other puzzle.

And that's exactly what I did.

I spent hours trying to find anything revolving around Iris, but there was nothing anywhere. Not even on internet. The only thing _that_ said was that she was the sister of Colonel of Repliforce. So, needless to say, that didn't really help.

So I resorted to the next option I had on the list; walk around town and see if I could find the answer there.

Well hello?! You actually thought I was going to walk up to Iris and ask her?! Give me a break!

Anyway, that's how I got downtown, just searching for any sign I could find. I had a digital camera with me, just incase I found out just what I was looking for. Whatever that was. 

I was just wearing some plain clothes, so it wasn't all that easy to figure out who I was. Even though my hair was most likely a clear giveaway. Nevertheless, I wasn't bothered by any of those annoying fangirls. 

But in any case, I had just started walking past a bookstore… then stopped and walked back a few steps. I stared through the glass of the store for a few seconds, looking rather confused, before I walked inside. 

'Well this is interesting…' was all I thought as I picked up the magazine. 

I smirked and pulled out my camera. I quickly snapped a shot and left after putting the magazine back. I left the place as fast as I came in, and surprisingly, no one made a move to stop me. 

I rushed off to HQ again, eager to get the photo printed. That's why I got myself a digital camera in the first place. All you gotta pay for with those photos, is ink and paper. Seriously, what more could you want?

But as I walked into HQ, I ran into trouble, in the shape of Alia. And if you know how she is, you know it's bad no matter what's it about. Not the news, but it's the fact that she won't shut up no matter how harsh you get.

And by the looks of it, she was pissed.

And that could only mean one thing; she couldn't talk to X.

"What did you do to him?!?!" she demanded, not beating around the bush.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I muttered, pushing past her without a second thought.

I didn't need any of this. Not at a time like this.

"Don't give me that shit, Zero!!"

I sighed softly. Looks like there's no such thing as rest for the weary.

"Alia, I don't have the time, so I'll talk to you later, goodnight."

And I vanished into my own room, closing and locking the door. She kept at it though, pounding on my door, but I simply attached my camera to the PC. I loaded several programs and started working. I picked up several snippets of Alia's one-sided conversation (seeing as I wasn't responding to her), while she pounded on my door.

"He won't respond to anyone!! So what the hell did you do?!?!"

Make a mistake, geez. I really wished she'd go away right now. But that's like wishing for the impossible. 

The rest of her babble was mostly the same shit over and over, and I'm not going to repeat any of it. Instead, I cranked up some of my music-CD's, making sure to drone her out, but also to such degree that I couldn't go deaf. 

It took some time, but she finally gave up. And just in time too. The second she left, my printer finally spat out the picture I had taken. I smirked as I pulled it out. 

X was going to _love_ this!

I checked my wrist-watch, and noticed to my surprise that it had been 4 whole days since X had fled to the sanctuary of his own room. As I looked outside, I noticed it was getting late. Well, all for the better, I suppose. Because the later it got, the more people would go to bed. And X knew I wasn't one to apologize with everyone around. So, he was probably waiting for me to show up, or he fell asleep while doing so.

I chuckled at the thought, and decided to wait a few more hours, before going to see the Blue Bomber. If he was still awake. 

By the time I decided to go, it was nearing midnight. There wouldn't be anyone else up at this hour, not even Alia or Signas. So, I quickly sneaked out of my room, the picture stuffed in my pocket, and rushed toward X's room. 

I've been there so many times before, I could find my way there with a blindfold on and both hands tied behind my back. Not like I was planning on ever doing that, but it's just a figure of speech. For some reason, it seemed to take a lot longer to get to X's room, and it gave me some time to think.

How was I going to tell X why I'd been ignoring him? I know that I have a terrible way with words, and retrospection seems to have taken a liking in me. It keeps coming back no matter how hard I try not to let it. And no matter how many times I tell myself to think before I speak, I just have the tendency to blurt everything out. Hoping against hope, I just wanted to make sure that didn't happen now. 

Either that, or it's three strikes and I'm out.

All too soon, I came to the destined door. And as I stood there, it dawned to me how nervous I was to talk to X again. Things could seriously go wrong if you're not careful, and in such situations, that was dangerous.

Once I managed to gulp down whatever was blocking my throat, I raised my fist, and hesitated at the last second. What if X didn't want to talk to me? What then?? Gathering my resolve, I finally managed to knock.

I didn't expect a response, and I didn't get one either. I waited for several moments, before knocking again. And again, I didn't get a response. So I tried to talk to him.

"X? Are you up? I… I really need to talk to you."

I hated the way my voice hitched, but I couldn't do anything about it. 

"…Zero??"

…Well, here goes nothing.

"Y-yeah… it's me… please, open the door, X…"

I nervously cast my eyes to the floor, hoping he'll open the door, but I didn't hear a thing. It seemed to take an eternity, but the door finally opened, revealing the fragile figure of my best friend.

The sight of X had almost made me crumble to dust, that's practically how _crushed_ he looked. I doubt he even realized it, but his eyes were red and puffy from crying so much, and the tear-streaks on his face had yet to dry up. His skin was paler than I remembered seeing it four days ago, but he was still slightly flushed, his hair was ruffled even more than usual, and his clothes were a real mess.

Speaking of which… he was also clutching one of my old shirts against him, like it was his last hope for survival.

Heartbreaking… really.

"Hey," was all that managed to get out of my mouth.

X seemed almost ready to just break apart any second, and it tore me up to see him like that. Once again gathering my resolve, I opened my mouth again. 

"C-can I come in?" I asked softly, hating the way I stuttered. 

I could see X gulp, and all he managed was a small nod. He carefully stepped aside, allowing me to enter easily. Once I was in, he closed the door again, and just stood there. I could _feel_ his eyes on me, but I didn't dare to look at him right now. I had to gather my thoughts for a moment. I had to figure out what to say to him, and I had to make sure I didn't say the wrong thing. 

I gulped a little once I felt like I could face X again, so I turned and did just that.

X was clutching my shirt tightly against his chest, like it was really all that kept him alive. I really got this urge to just walk up to him and just hug him, telling him it was going to be alright, that everything would be okay again. But I wasn't planning to give in, yet. First things first.

"Look, X, about Iris…"

I think that was the wrong thing to say as I noticed him flinch, before he began to shake, quite visibly. His grip on my shirt tightened, and right then, he reminded me of a distressed little kid, hugging a plush animal close to him.

I bit my lip, weighing my words carefully, before allowing my words to escape.

"X… there's nothing going on between her and me. I just… I just had the strangest feeling like I saw her somewhere before. Like… like… uh…"

Oh crap. I couldn't remember what I'd been planning to say.

"Oh heck… I'm not good with this…"

X surprised me when he giggled, a small smile crossing over his face as he pulled up the shirt to hide it. He seemed to enjoy seeing me frustrated over something so easy as saying what's on your mind.

Normally, had he been anyone else, I would've blown up, but X is just… well… he's different, that's all there is to it.

And besides, the tension became less now, and I wasn't complaining.

"X…" I started again, "look… I'm sorry about what happened, but I just needed to figure out where I saw Iris before, and… well…"

I trailed off, and pretended to look around, as if to check if no one else was there. It got the desired reaction and X looked at me with expecting and curious eyes, almost begging me to continue. I know X was easily interested in anything that might seem to be the world's biggest secret, and he'll most likely do anything to learn it.

I pulled the picture from my pocket, and handed it to X, whispering: "Check _this _out!"

He gingerly took the picture from my hand, his hand lightly shaking, took one look at the picture… and quickly muffled his laughter with my shirt. I smiled at the reaction and walked up to beside him, looking at the picture with him.

"Just happened to walk past the book-store. Was lying right in front of me."

He smiled up at me, his eyes shining with so many emotions that I couldn't possibly sort them out. But as I looked down at him, I saw the tear-streaks still on his face. I knew it was a little late for it, but I could just tell by looking at him that he _needed_ it. So I gently pulled him against me, and gently embraced him.

Little rascal nuzzled his face into my shoulder, and gave a soft sigh, not saying anything.

Let's see… that had been a good 10 months ago, and right now, we're back to being friends again. Iris still plagued me from time to time, but hell, see if I care about her!

Well ANYWAY!!! That was over and done with, but that didn't mean trouble ended for me. It'd been a quiet day, and if I know X, which I did very well, he was most likely just loafing around. Not me, though. I was busy working on some paperwork that was due somewhere that afternoon. I know, not the best time to do stuff like that, but I always tend to leave the most important stuff until the last second. X always tells me to do it the second I get it, and I always tell him I will, but I end up not doing it anyway.

Like I said, it was way too quiet, and no one was expecting any Maverick attack anytime soon. The last Maverick attack had been two days ago, so everyone knew they had to recuperate. I knew that as well, but X seemed to have his doubts, don't know why though.

But as I already said, people weren't expecting an attack… and three guesses what happened.

Yup. We got attacked. Or… well… not us, but you know what I mean! Luckily, it wasn't anyone we knew (yeah, I'm talking Sigma here *shudder*), but they still had a single goal in mind. 

They were attacking Gate's old lab.

Even though it had been meant to be destroyed, people ended up rebuilding it instead. And looks like those damn Mavericks didn't really like the idea.

X and I immediately rushed for the war-room, where Signas was staring at a screen, and Alia was working vigorously with the computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Okay, Alia can type fast, but she makes a lot of mistakes, and that can cost people their lives someday.

Signas went into a lecture to us about how we were supposed to fix this, but I'll save you all the torture. No, you can thank me later. 

So anyway, we were sent out to fix it, and so, we went, we saw… and we were surprised.

All robots and Mavericks we faced seemed to be searching something whilst destroying everything they encountered, and it left us rather confused.

"Those bastards are looking for something."

"I know… but what?" X asked softly.

I gave a simple shrug, still holding onto my saber. This couldn't be good. Anything those Mavericks wanted had to be bad. 

I looked up in surprise when a hand suddenly gripped my left lightly. I was looking straight in X's emerald eyes, and they sparked ever so slightly, as they usually do. He smiled at me briefly, before he rushed off into battle, without a word. There was no need for words. It's just a little something between best friends. You can understand each other without the use of words. 

Shaking the memories away, I rushed off as well, saber grasped tightly in my hand. I couldn't afford to get lost in thought here. That could be enough to have one killed.

I wouldn't stop killing Mavericks and random robots as I ran on an on, not once stopping. If my internal clock wasn't messing with me, I had been 'busy' for about 20 minutes, when I suddenly heard screams of fright, before two Mavericks suddenly ran past in front of me.

I blinked, watching them run off, seriously confused. What was wrong with _them_??

"AND JUST WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!?!?!" a strangely familiar voice screamed, and a giant bolt of red plasma shot past me.

A set of screams was followed by a large explosions, as the Mavericks were instantly vaporized by the blast. Almost afraid to look, I slowly turned my head… and my jaw dropped.

"X?!?!"

Geez, can you blame me for shouting?! Not that far away, holding the barrel of his Buster in one hand, was someone who looked _exactly_ like X, but a closer look made me realize that it wasn't him. 

For one, his armor was too dark. His armor was dark gray, while his jumpsuit was about two shades lighter. The gem on his forehead is a lot brighter, and the joints at his knees, elbows, wrists, and his neck were just a shade darker than the gem. And then there was his face.

Well, the first thing that caught my attention were his eyes. They were a deep bloodruby-red, and burning with a fire so intense it could just burn your eyes out. 

Panting for breath, he lowered his Buster, and I could tell he was exhausted. It suddenly occurred that he also seemed to be about a foot taller than the X I knew was. His Buster vanished into his arm, brining out his hand as he looked at me oddly. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, and he opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse groan… before he toppled over.

He crashed face-first into the ground, catching me off guard slightly. When he didn't move again, I moved over and bent down beside him. I checked for a pulse and nodded once a found one.

He must've been really exhausted to just collapse like that. 

I thought things over once or twice. I couldn't leave this guy here, but I couldn't just take him back to HQ like that either. I had to get him in without anyone's notice, and that would take some time. 

I picked the dark-armored Reploid up and tossed him over my shoulder, quite surprised at how light he was. Shrugging it off for now, I activated my teleporter, and warped away from the place. I wasn't going straight to MHHQ, but I headed for a rather unknown area of HQ X and I had once stumbled upon. No one of HQ knew about it, but we weren't about to get rid of our hiding-place. We put some alarm-systems there, but so far, no one's found it yet.

Once I got there, I easily managed to sneak into the base, unnoticed. The small alcove ended not far from my own room, inside an old closet no one ever used… except when they couldn't wait to get to their rooms.

Luckily, no one was there, so I hurried off to my own room. Didn't take me long, but I was stuck with one more problem; where was I going to leave this guy??

Finally, I shrugged my shoulders a little, and walked over to my bedroom. Ever since I've had those disturbing dreams, I tried to avoid sleeping in my pod. Which was why I now had a bed in my room. 

I tossed the covers aside with a flick of my wrist, and gently eased the dark Reploid onto it. Not gently enough I guess, as he groaned softly and blinked his eyes open halfway. 

"Buh??" was the only sound escaping from barely opened lips.

"You shouldn't move," I said calmly, making him turn his head in my direction. "Just get some rest. You'll need it."

"Do not…" he argued, slightly frowning up at me.

"Yes you do, now, _sleep_," I said, and tapped him on his nose.

He drowsily reached out to bat at my face, but I avoided the 'attack' easily. He growled softly, but then he huffed and simply snuggled up on the bed, pulling the covers over himself.

I watched him for a moment, noting that even though he looked like X, he didn't act like him. For one, X always tosses and turns a lot before being able to fall asleep, and secondly, this guy lay perfectly still as he slept, making it seem like he was dead.

Shaking my head, I finally left, dashing from my room and down the hall. I _had_ to tell X about this.

Within seconds, I had dashed into his room, and, big surprise, he was waiting for me. He shot up as I stormed in, and I opened my mouth… same time he did.

"Zero/X!! You're not going to believe what just---Huh?!?!"

We were both dumbstruck that we both said the same thing at the same time, and it made us stand there for awhile, not saying anything. But then it started again.

"What do you mean I'm not going to---Will you knock it off!?!? NO!! _You_ knock it off!!"

It took a few minutes for us to realize what we were doing and X gave a groan as he dragged his hand over his face in exasperation.

"Ugh! You go first!" he mumbled. 

"Okay, but you might want to take a seat first," I said warningly, not wanting him to tumble over or anything.

"Nah, don't bother. I don't think anything can shock me today."

I blinked in surprise. What was that supposed to mean?? 

I finally decided to just drop the bomb though.

"Well, what if I told you I found a Reploid who's completely identical to you safe for the darker armor?"

……

I swear, X looked like he was about to have a heart attack. He just froze up and stared at me as if I'd grown an extra head.

Once he opened his mouth though.

"Well this is interesting…"

Took the words right out of my mouth, X.


	3. The Darkness Revealed

**__**

Darkness comes to Light

Chapter 3 X's POV: The Darkness Revealed

As Zero led me through the hallway, toward his room, I was left completely clueless as to what was gong on. 

It was, of course, possible for someone to have made those guys to kill us and then destroy everything in our name. Stuff like that, but I wasn't all that sure. I don't know, but there'd been just something about that darkened version of Zero that told me he was trustworthy. But there'd also been something _in _his eyes that told me he's been through much more than either me, _or_ Zero. 

But if you asked me what, I wouldn't be able to answer.

I was jolted from my thoughts when Zero opened the door to his room. We made it inside quickly, before anyone could question us. After locking the door, Zero led me to the bedroom, where he most likely left that darker version of me. When I entered the room, I could barely contain a gasp of shock.

I didn't need a mirror to know I was looking at a mirror image of myself, because I knew that this guy wore the same armor as I did, only in darker shades. He seemed to be asleep, and he was barely moving, safe for his chest, which steadily moved up and down with his steady breathing. And even that seemed to be unnoticeable. 

But then I realized something else of him; his skin was as white as a sheet. It was like he was really ill, but he didn't seem at all bothered.

He hadn't woken up yet, though it didn't really bother me. It gave us the time we needed to study him for awhile. He looked really identical to me, but I wasn't too sure if his attitude would be the same.

Well, it wouldn't take long to get an answer, because ever so slightly, the side of his mouth twitched and he frowned lightly in his sleep, before his eyes slowly slid open to reveal two orbs of bloodruby. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, before he gingerly sat up, not once casting a glance our way. He just stared straight ahead for a moment, before he finally turned to us.

I gulped a little upon locking eyes with him, as he seemed to be sizing us up for some time, before he finally twisted on the bed so that he sat on the edge. After placing his elbows on his knees, while still sitting up, he finally opened his mouth, speaking with a voice much like my own, but hoarser, and slightly older.

"I'm getting the feeling that this can't be good."

Zero blinked at him, and I looked confused. This guy was really different than I was. He was actually being sarcastic, which I couldn't do as well as he did just then. Apparently, he disliked having us staring at him like that, if the next comment was anything to go by.

"What the hell are you two staring at?!" he hissed angrily between his teeth.

I yelped and took a step back, which made him look at me in surprise. Other than that, he didn't comment. 

Finally, he stood up, and surprisingly, he was a foot taller than I was. He held a hand to his neck as he twisted it a few times, most likely to get the kinks out of it. Once he was finished with that, he cracked his knuckles, making me cringe. I never liked that sound. Too many bad memories.

When he looked at us again, he said: "Even though I can guess, mind telling me who you are, where we are, and what year this is?"

I looked at Zero, who seemed to be contemplating things, before he finally answered.

"I am Zero Omega, and he is Mega Man X," he said with a nod to me, "this is Maverick Hunter Headquarters, and the year is 2176."

He frowned, and crossed his arms over his chest, before mumbling: "Yeah, I expected as much."

Zero and I looked at each other briefly, before looking at him again.

"Year's a little unexpected though. As for me," he finally said, gesturing to himself with one hand, the other on his hip, "My name is Mega Man Xavier Light, or just plain X to friends. But I have a feeling that's going to cause a lot of confusion around here."

Zero scratched at his chin for a moment, then asked: "But… how's that even possible?"

"In all honesty…" Dark X (yeah, that's how I'm calling him) said, putting an arm around his waist and the other to the side of his head, his index-finger against his temple, "I have absolutely no idea, and I don't know how the hell I got here. But where I come from, it's already 2413."

"Say WHAT?!?!" 

"Ow! Zero! Don't shout already!!" I mumbled, rubbing my ears.

He had been standing right beside me after all, and Zero shouts quite loud.

Dark X groaned and dropped his face in his hand. A chuckle suddenly came from his throat, and his shoulders shook slightly.

"Heheh. Well, at least _something's_ the same around here."

He peeked out through his fingers and said: "I know another blonde who also tends to speak before he thinks."

"Let me guess, Zero, huh? Only with darker armor," I said, acting calm, but actually still not getting used to that chilling look.

Dark X looked at me curiously, removing his hand, then put both hands on his hips and looked at me questionably. I gulped away my nervousness, but that didn't really seem to help.

"Um… I brought him to Lifesaver… so that he could…" I started, but Dark X cut me off.

"Who the heck is 'Lifesaver'??"

Both Zero and me stared at him like he'd lost it, but he seemed obvious to it all. Apparently, that was another difference with him. Maybe Lifesaver no longer existed wherever he's from, though how, I didn't know.

"Well, who takes care of the injured Reploids with you, then?" I asked finally.

Finally, Dark X seemed to understand.

"Oh, Lifesaver's your medic? Heh, we got someone named Gate playing medic for us…"

"_Gate_?!?!" I asked, quite shocked, and I noticed that Zero was as shocked as I was.

"Yeah, what's wrong with him? He's been with us ever since the Fourth Maverick Uprising. Then again, he wouldn't have joined hadn't it been for……………"

He suddenly dropped whatever he was saying and looked anywhere but at us. It was almost like he was remembering something he didn't want to, but finally, he shook his head and turned to look at us again.

"Anyway, could you take me to him? Maybe he knows what happened…" he asked, and as an afterthought, added: "Though I seriously doubt it."

Zero quirked an eyebrow at him and asked: "You plan to go out in _that_?!"

Dark X looked down at his armor, then shrugged and said: "They're going to find out one way or another. So what's the use trying to hide it?"

"…Okay… good point there."

"But first, do you happen to have something to drink here?" Dark X suddenly asked, holding a hand to his throat. "Got myself a rather dry throat here."

Zero furrowed his brows, before leaving for the kitchen, leaving me alone with Dark X. I watched him go, then turned to Dark X as he gave a soft sigh. 

"What's wrong?" I asked, surprised.

"…Nothing," he mumbled, eyes closed. "Nothing important."

I cocked my head to the side, looking at him oddly, before asking: "Does it have something to do with Zero?"

"Which one? Yours or mine?" he asked in return, rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

I blushed a little in embarrassment, and stammered: "Z-Z-Zero does not _belong_ to me!!"

"Never said that, now did I?" Dark X said with a chuckle. "So? Which one?"

"Yours," I finally mumbled.

"Ah. No, it's got nothing to do with him. …Not much."

I couldn't ask anything else, as Zero finally entered the room again, holding a beer can in his hand.

"This is all I had left," he said, tossing the can to Dark X.

He simply watched it soar toward his head, before his hand suddenly came up and grabbed it. Zero's eyes widened in shock, but Dark X didn't seem to notice. He turned the can a few times before giving a sigh and opening it effortlessly. With a deep breath, he tossed his head back, with the can to his mouth, dumping the contents down his throat. I could vaguely see him gulp several times to get the liquid down as fast as he could.

Within a few seconds, he lowered his head, and wiped at the corners of his mouth with the back of his hands.

"Ah, much better," he said, surprising us when his voice didn't sound as hoarse anymore.

Instead, it was smooth and positively calm.

"Now!" he suddenly said, and tossed the can over his shoulder and right into the trash can. "Let's go see how that bastard's doing, shall we?"

I gulped down the nervousness from my throat, and we finally headed out. Several heads turned as we walked, as Dark X was walking right in between Zero and me, yet he seemed obvious to all the attention he was getting. He just followed us as we headed for the med-bay, and so far, no one had confronted us about what was going on.

But of course, that wouldn't last.

"X!!!" a familiar voice called out, and I cringed slightly.

We all halted in our tracks, and turned around to see Alia rushing toward us. By the looks of it, she was awfully distressed by what she saw. Dark X watched her in silence as she looked between him and me. 

"X, what's going on?!!? Who _is_ this guy?!!?" she demanded, pointing at Dark X's face.

That caught him by surprise, but then he frowned --- and snapped at her finger, making Alia yelp and pull her hand back quickly.

"It's impolite to point," Dark X growled. "And do not ask another's name before stating your own, or have you never heard of that saying?"

Alia frowned in anger, and shouted: "How DARE you?! You have no right to---"

"Rightfully, I don't give a rat's ass. And actually, I don't even _want_ to know who you are. If this is how you usually are, I don't even understand how you even managed to become a Navigator."

Silence as everyone stared at Dark X in absolute shock. Even Zero and myself were stunned into silence, because no one ever said what Alia's job was in the first place.

Alia stammered and stuttered, before Dark X cut her off.

"You have a radio over your ear and you're surprised how I know what your job is?" he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest, turning his head to the side and mumbling something under his breath. 

I blinked in surprise, and looked at Dark X for a moment, who still looked away. I suddenly realized that from this angle, he seemed a whole lot more mature than I could ever hope to become. And I actually thought I'd matured a lot since the 5th Maverick War.

"Can we go, _now_?" I suddenly heard Dark X hiss to Zero. "I've just about had it with these loons."

I frowned slightly, but said nothing. Zero blinked at him, then shrugged and restarted on his way, with Dark X and myself right behind him, leaving everyone to stare after us. 

Once we were out of their hearing range though, Dark X began to speak.

"Who the frack was the blabbermouth?!" he asked us through gritted teeth.

"That was Alia. And yeah, she's even worse when she does her job," Zero said, frowning deeply.

Dark X groaned.

"Man, I really pity you guys. I've never been more glad to have Miranda doing that part."

"Miranda?? Who's that??" I asked, confused and never having heard that name before.

"She's _our_ Navigator. Best one we ever had actually. She's been around since the First Maverick Uprising, but she took the job somewhere before the Third."

"Uprising??" Zero and I exclaimed at the same time.

"Later, later," Dark X mumbled, waving the matter aside, 

Not long after, we calmly entered the med-bay. Lifesaver immediately looked up from something he'd been working on when he heard us.

"Oh, X, I was just going to---what the?!" Lifesaver started, then broke off as he noticed Dark X, his eyes widening and his jaw dropping.

Dark X didn't notice as he stood up on his toes to look over Lifesaver at what her was working on.

"What's wrong with him??" he asked suddenly, blinking as he returned to his feet again.

Lifesaver finally recovered, and cleared his throat a little.

"Well, nothing really. It's just that he… well, he won't wake up," Lifesaver finally said.

I gasped and Zero's eyes widened in shock, but Dark X seemed unaffected. He blinked a few times, then looked at the darkened version of Zero lying on the worktable.

"Oh, is that all?" he asked simply.

Lifesaver looked surprised, then asked: "Wait, you aren't worried?"

"Why should I be? It's easy to wake him up, but you have to know what to do," Dark X commented ever so calmly.

"Oh? So why don't you wake him?" Zero challenged, a sly smirk on his face.

"Alright, I will!" Dark X said solemnly and stalked forward, brushing past Lifesaver to stand beside Dark Zero's cot.

We walked over to see what he was doing, but at the moment, he only stood there with his hands on his hips and staring down at Dark Zero. 

He finally bent over slightly and poked Dark Zero a little under his ribs. Instinctively, he flinched and gave a light groan, but did not wake. Dark X continued his poking though, and after a while, Dark Zero drowsily slapped his hand away.

"Hey!" Dark X cried, looking a little angry. 

He tapped his foot a little in annoyance, before he started to scratch at the area just below Dark Zero's nose. His face twitched slightly, and Dark X kept up relentlessly.

And then he sneezed.

It surprised us immensely, but Dark Zero still didn't wake.

Dark X blinked, and scratched at his own chin.

"He's either really out of it, or…"

Suddenly, a downright _evil_ smirk appeared on his face. Gently, he put his hands on Dark Zero's arm and a little above his knee, and bent over slightly, looking over at the guy's face.

"Oh Zerooooooo," he cooed slightly, almost teasingly. "If you don't wake up, I'm afraid I'm going to seriously hurt you."

Surprisingly, Dark Zero mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "whatever".

Dark X's smirk changed into a violent grin and he said: "Well, don't say I didn't warn you."

And without a second thought --- he pushed Dark Zero off the cot and onto the ground.

"GAAAH!!" the blonde screamed as he crashed headfirst onto the floor with a loud thud. "DAMN YOU TO HELL, X!!!"

Dark X merely leaned over the cot, and smirked down at him.

"You up now?" he asked teasingly.

Dark Zero growled in anger, and finally pulled himself up with the help of the cot, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," he mumbled, not facing us.

"Ever thought about waking up on your own?" Dark X chided.

Dark Zero growled and glared daggers at Dark X.

"Oh shut up, smartass."

Zero finally cleared his throat, making the duo look up in surprise.

"Sorry for interrupting, but could someone explain what's going on around here?"

"Maybe when my head stops pounding so badly," Dark Zero mumbled, not seeming at all surprised at seeing Zero or me.

As I looked at his eyes, I realized that his eyes were much brighter than Dark X's. They were literally alight with emotion, surging through his eyes at rapid speeds. But at such speeds, that they couldn't be identified. 

He suddenly closed his eyes and held the hand previously held to the back of his head to the crystal on his forehead, gingerly touching the side of it. It flashed a couple of times, then shrouded the entire room in a shroud of bloodred light. From the ceiling, something extended across the plaster, down the walls, and across the center, and with a flash of light, it was over and I was back in the med-bay.

Zero and Lifesaver both seemed as surprised as I felt, which meant the same must've happened to him.

"Zero, just what the frack did you do?!" Dark X suddenly demanded.

"Will you quiet down?!" Dark Zero hissed. "Because I might just know what happened."

Dark X blinked, eyes wide in surprise.

"You do??" he asked.

Dark Zero nodded and said: "Compared to our world, this is an alternate world. And only because the Cataclysm never occurred here."

"Don't remind me of that!!" Dark X hissed, slightly shaking. "But anyway, _then_ what happened?"

Dark Zero shrugged his shoulders and said: "I can only suspect it's practically the same as in our world, seeing as this _is_ Maverick Hunter Headquarters, is it not?"

At the last part, he glanced our way, one eyebrow raised curiously.

Zero nodded a little, then said: "But that still doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"'Ey! I don't know _every_thing, you know?!!?" Dark Zero exclaimed, fists on his hips.

"No, so we figured…"

"X, one more comment like that and I'm gonna hurt you."

Dark X rolled his eyes in annoyance, but said nothing more.

"But until we find a way back, we're stranded here," Dark Zero finally continued. 

Dark X closed his eyes and said: "Well, it's fine by me… as long as the _whore_ is no longer around."

"GAH!!!" Dark Zero exclaimed. "Don't remind me! Damn, I'm just glad I got rid of her when I had the chance."

Zero blinked for a moment, seriously confused. But after a few seconds, it suddenly seemed to make sense to him.

"Are you talking about Iris?" he finally asked.

Bingo.

Dark X practically fell to the ground with a yelp, and Dark Zero clenched his fists and started to shake visibly, before they both screamed: "DON'T SAY THAT NAME AGAIN!!!"

Shocked the living daylights out of us as we all jumped back a few steps in fright.

Once they could calm down again, Dark X asked softly: "She's not around… is she?"

I bit my bottom lip and looked at Zero, who seemed to be trying to think of what to say without screwing up. Lifesaver on the other hand, tried to stay out of this as much as he could. 

Silence befell us for a while, until Dark Zero mumbled: "She is."

"Well, _shit_!" Dark X cursed loudly, surprising me completely.

These guys really cursed a lot, didn't they?

"But she's not at the base at the moment," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

This made Dark X and Dark Zero stare at me in surprise. 

"Don't count on that, X," Zero suddenly said, and I turned to face him. "You know how she has the tendency to suddenly show up at the worst of times. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if she…"

The door slammed open just then.

Dark X and Dark Zero instantly flinched, as they could easily look past us to see who it was. Both Zero and I slowly turned around, but it was a little late to send her away as she was already latched onto Zero.

"ZERO!!! I've been looking all over for you!!! They said you were injured, so I came here to make you feel better!!! But it looks like you're just fine, so that means---"

Alright, I suspect there was a whole lot more, but it was interrupted by something that sounded akin to choking. I looked over and noticed Dark X looking like he was about to puke, and Dark Zero like he was choking on something vile. 

Iris immediately released Zero and started blabbing again. 

"Oh my gosh!! Who are you?! You look like X and Zero, but you're not, because they're standing right here and you're standing over there! But that's okay!!"

Before anyone could stop her, she had run over and embraced Dark Zero, who yelped in surprise. 

Uh oh… I had a feeling this couldn't end well. And that feeling only increased when I saw Dark X watching it fearfully and taking a few steps away from Dark Zero.

"It doesn't matter how you look as long as you're still alive and moving because if you're not then you'd be dead and then you---"

"Will you just SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH AND LET GO OF ME!!!!" Dark Zero suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, and that was quite loud, and roughly shoved Iris away from him, sending her sprawling to the ground.

Silence.

"Much better," Dark Zero mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Geez, you don't have to _yell_, you know," Dark X mumbled, yanking off his helmet and rubbing a hand over his ear.

The fact that he did wasn't as startling as to what was under his helmet!

Instead of pitch-black hair, like I had, it was a much lighter black (or deep gray), and quite a few inches longer, reaching to about chin-height. It clashed with his skin-color, but at the same time, it seemed quite appropriate. Also, around his forehead was a pitch-black ribbon, though what it was for, I don't know. 

"Oh, like you weren't on the verge of yelling yourself," Dark Zero muttered as Dark X raked a hand through his hair.

Dark X frowned, and finally put his helmet back on.

"So? Do you mind?"

Dark Zero shrugged his shoulders, then finally turned to Iris.

"I'll give you one piece of advice, if you want to keep your circuitry intact for longer than a few more weeks, you'd be best off staying away from us," he hissed.

"A few more weeks?!!?" Dark X asked in surprise.

"Oh, fine! A few more days then!!"

Dark X smirked simply, but it kind of scared me. And by the looks of it, Iris got scared too. 

Zero however, seemed more than a little amused. Lifesaver had long ago left, leaving us with Iris as soon as she entered.

I wasn't sure about what to do now, but finally, Dark Zero spoke again, to Iris once more.

"Are you still here?!"

Iris yelped, and was out of the room before anyone else could say anything. Zero watched her leave, then turned to Dark Zero.

"You're good," he said.

"That was nothing. You haven't seen me at work when it involves Mavericks," Dark Zero commented, an evil smirk crossing his face.

I shivered a little, almost not WANTING to know.

"But in any case," Dark X suddenly said. "Since we're stranded here, we need to at least have a place to stay, right?"

At the last part, he turned to Dark Zero. 

He seemed to think it over for a moment, then mumbled sarcastically: "No, X. Let's just get out and sleep on the street and get ourselves killed by Mavericks."

Dark X frowned and growled.

"I was being sarcastic, X."

I smiled at their rather childlike behavior. Even for being so creepy-looking sometimes, they can be fun to hang out with. But I wondered about Zero's darker version. There was something about him that made me question him. I don't know. He just seemed to have some sort of protective shield around himself, as if to protect himself from something, but I just couldn't find out what it was.

Oh well. I guess that wasn't important now.


	4. Weird

**__**

Darkness comes to Light

Chapter 4 Zero's POV: Weird…

"Well, it's no Buckingham Palace, but it'll just have to do for the moment," Rei said calmly, looking around the room.

After thoroughly introducing himself, my darker version had explained that his full name was Zero Rei Omega, so I had gotten used to calling him by his middle name, just to prevent confusion. And as for X's darker version, I stuck with Xavier.

X watched as both Rei and Xavier studied the room we were in. It was one of the few rooms Signas had said he could spare. And that meant that they had to share the room. I admit, Signas was really surprised when he got all four of us in his office, but he recovered a little faster than either Alia or Lifesaver. So, we had managed to get the dark duo a room, and they seemed not to mind that they actually had to share a room. 

Xavier ran a hand across the table, and then inspected his fingers for a moment.

"Dust free…" he finally said. "That's good."

Rei nodded absently, still looking around curiously, before walking into another part of the room, vanishing from sight. Xavier didn't bother and simply studied everything from where he stood, before he once again removed his helmet from his head, setting it aside on the table. 

After running his hands through his hair, he shouted: "So how're the beds?!"

Rei finally came out of the bedroom and leaned against a doorpost with one arm.

"Small problem."

Xavier slapped a hand to his face and said: "Do tell, what's that?!"

"There's only one bed."

Xavier groaned in suppressed anger, before he gave a sigh. It was clear that he was trying to contain his anger. 

After rubbing the bridge of his nose, he mumbled: "Well, looks like we gotta share."

"Well, I'm not complaining," Rei said calmly with a shrug of his shoulders. "At least it's big enough for the both of us."

"That's good!" Xavier said. "But I don't want to wake up with you on top of me, alright!?"

Rei snorted and straightened up, and said, while reaching behind his head: "Look who's talking…"

An audible click sounded, and Rei put his hands on the side of his helmet, easily sliding it off of his head.

"Last time we had to share, it was _you_ who ended up on top of _me_, if I remember correctly."

By the end of the sentence, his helmet was off, and I was slightly surprised.

His fringe easily reached chin-length, but the locks seemed to steer clear off his eyes, framing his face, which was a whole lot paler than my own. As he shook his head, a slight jingle made me frown in suspicion. His fringe flew back and forth with every shake of his head, but fell right back into place when he stopped. 

I could tell that X was as surprised as I was.

"Your head jingles," he finally stated matter-of-factly, making Rei look up in surprise.

"Wha…??" he started, but then he smirked. "Oh, _that_! That's not my head though."

Calmly, he turned his head so the right-side was facing us, showing off a small crucifix-earring dangling from his ear. As his head moved, it jingled ever so slightly, and again, I was surprised. I'd never expected him to wear something like that, because quite frankly, I sure as hell didn't have one. And I wasn't catholic.

"You're a catholic?" I asked before I could think about it.

"Hell no!" Rei exclaimed. "I just collect those things."

X blinked in surprise, obviously confused about it, but he didn't ask. I was confused as well, but I figured out to let it drop for the moment. 

"So, this place got a radio or something? It's too damn quiet in here!" Rei asked, raking a hand through his hair in an almost idle gesture. 

Xavier looked around, and finally reached out to his right to flip on the radio standing not that far away from him. Some sort of classical music immediately poured from the boxes. Xavier groaned in slight aggravation.

"Damn, it's just finishing up!" he mumbled.

Rei suddenly said: "'Ey, small wager. Liesbeth List."

We all stared at him in surprise, just as the music was finishing.

"Oh, I don't know!" Rei exclaimed, fists on his hips. "I just blurted something out!"

Just then, the radio said: "Liesbeth List."

Our cries of shock quickly turned into loud fits of laughter, practically sending us sprawling to the ground. Xavier waved it all away with his hand, though he was still cracking up himself, as he searched for a different radio-station. (1)

Not long after, a strange sort of music came from the boxes, but I guess it was familiar to the dark Reploids, as Xavier grinned a little.

"Spineshank! Now that's more like it!!" 

I blinked in surprise, when the boxes suddenly blared with the heavy metal music, pounding through my head, and hard. I wasn't complaining, I actually enjoyed this music, but X didn't seem as fond of it. Xavier and Rei on the other hand, seemed thrilled by the tune. Xavier's foot was tapping to the ground on the pace of the drums, and Rei was tapping his fingers onto his arm.

Then the lines came up, much too fast for me to catch up on what they were saying. The only thing I caught was the chorus.

"_Don't wanna see_

Don't wanna think

Don't wanna speak for yourself

Don't wanna see

Don't wanna think

Don't wanna speak for yourself

It's like a fucking disease

It's like a fucking disease 

It's like a fucking disease 

And it shows

It's like a fucking disease

It's like a fucking disease 

It's like a fucking disease 

And it shows"

Suddenly, Xavier looked at us and asked: "By the way, do you guys have a training room around here? We can't run behind on training, you know."

Now that was something I hadn't expected. X would never think of training before anything else. To him, it was just something he _had_ to do in order to be able to stay. He'd already considered several times of not going at all, but he knew that that just couldn't be done. 

Xavier on the other hand, seemed just about ready to train every day if he had to. And he'd do it on his own free will as well.

"Well, of course we do. Why do you ask?"

"It's nearly twelve," Xavier stated, nodding at the clock hanging on the wall. 

I frowned at the clock for a moment, noting it was indeed ten minutes away from being noon. 

"Yeah, so?" I asked again.

"Just fucking show us where it is already!!" Rei said, picking up his helmet.

The duo put on their helmets again as they followed both X and me to the training room. A lot of people were staring at us as we walked, but no one dared to approach us, either knowing what happened with Alia, or having heard from Iris what happened at the med-bay. Well, not like it really bothered us. I noticed neither of them cast a glance to their friend, or anyone for that matter. They just kept up with our pace relentlessly.

Not surprisingly, we arrived at the training rooms within 5 minutes. Both Xavier and Rei looked around curiously, watching as a lot of rookies were training now, trying to get things right. Keyword, _trying_.

"Ow, that had to hurt," I heard Rei mumble as one rookie tumbled over and collided face-first with the ground after tripping over his own feet.

"I don't understand how he could miss his own feet," Xavier mumbled.

I shook my head a little, and we continued to watch for a moment, before the seconds dragged closer and closer to noon. The very second noon struck…

"You up for a little match, blondie?" Xavier taunted Rei, looking over his shoulder.

Rei glowered and hissed: "Knock it off, X. It's bad enough coffee-girl calls me that, alright?!"

Coffee-girl…?? Who the hell was that??

"But in answer to your question…" Rei continued, not catching the confusion on my, or X's, face, smirking wickedly, "Do you have to ask?"

What the!? They were actually serious about fighting each other?!?! The only time when X and I had a serious fight was during the Fifth Maverick Uprising, when we had accused each other of being Mavericks. 

These guys however…

Without another word, they both began to walk further into the room, the space between them widening with each step they took. Those who noticed instantly scattered, breaking up fights in order to get out of the way. Finally, they stopped, both at the same time, and whirled about to face the other, both their faces set on angry glares.

Intrigued, a lot of rookies remained in the room to watch, curious to how this would end. I wasn't really sure myself, but I could tell X was really curious as to how it would end as well.

Both Rei and Xavier crouched and took on typical fighting positions, the glares on their faces not shifting. A full minute passed, before they moved again. Their eyes widened a fraction of a millimeter, and with one dash from their boots, they were sent flying across the room. The second their fists collided, a massive shockwave unlike anything tore through the room, sending several rookies to the ground, yelping in surprise. X and myself were a few of the ones who managed to stay upright.

Rei sent his fist flying at Xavier's face, but Xavier managed to grab Rei's wrist, and suddenly heaved the blonde over him, slamming him against the ground before he could respond. Rei was quick to react by grabbing Xavier's throat and sending him face-first into the ground as well, and I winced when I saw the ground crackle where his face collided with the ground. 

But within seconds, they were back on their feet, and Xavier actually managed to punch Rei to his jaw, sending him flying for the ground, but he landed on his hands, and he sent himself airborne, flipping backward so he landed on his feet again. With a single burst of his thrusters, Rei slammed headfirst into Xavier's guts, sending the brunette rolling over the ground before they became cartwheels and he was up before he could even roll to a stop. 

They were at each other's throats within a second, sending punches and kicks every way while trying to get through the other's defenses. Every once in a while, one of them got through, but it was also returned with equal force from the other. 

No idea how long it took, but within what seemed like mere moments, both of them leaped back, crouching on the ground, panting for breath. Sweat was trickling down their foreheads, and they just sat there for a moment, before a vicious smirk crossed Rei's face.

Xavier frowned, then yelped as he leaped away from a deep purple shockwave sent his way. 

"Zero!! I thought we agreed on 'no sabers'!!!" he screamed.

Rei chuckled, standing up with a deep purple beam-saber in his hand. That thing was literally _burning_ with energy, and it seemed to crackle every now and then.

"Well, you know what they say. All's fair in love and war."

Xavier growled.

"In that case…" he murmured.

He suddenly placed his arms in a cross over his chest, and when he threw his arms back to his side, a bright flash followed. Once the light cleared, Xavier stood there, wearing an armor that resembled X's Blade Armor (2), only it was a deep red, black and silver. Xavier's right hand vanished into his arm and a blood red saber erupted from the wrist.

"…Let's go."

Rei's smirk widened to a feral grin, and something in his eyes shifted, before the two of them were once again shot at each other. The sabers clashed violently, sending sparks flying in every direction. To gain a little control over his saber, Xavier clutched his sword-arm with his free hand, managing to block just about every hack from Rei's saber. 

I could easily tell that Rei was very talented with a saber, and, though I don't like to admit it, it looked like he was even better than I was. Then again… if I didn't know any better, both Xavier and Rei were most likely much older than any of us, so they must've had _way _more experience than X or I.

Suddenly, Xavier screamed out as he was knocked aside, and a small trail of red and black liquid sailed through the air before falling to the ground. Xavier dropped onto the ground, facedown. Rei didn't make a move while his friend was down, most likely not planning to attack someone who's down.

Talk about sense of honor. 

Slowly, Xavier rose to his feet again, one hand on his face, and he calmly turned around to face Rei. Only then did he remove his hand. A thin line ran across his left cheek, and blood and oil dribbled from the paper-thin wound. Gingerly, he moved his thumb across the wound, smearing both the oil and the blood, but at the same time --- the wound healed up!!

"Did you see that?!" X asked me, his eyes wide and still transfixed on the battle.

"How the hell did he…??" I mumbled, not daring to look away.

Both Rei and Xavier were silent, just standing there like two statues. Finally though, Xavier spoke.

"All-out?"

"All-out," Rei replied calmly, before they leapt again.

This time, they moved so fast that it was hard enough to keep track of their movements, much less follow the battle. I really didn't like to admit it, but these guys were good. Don't know whether they managed to hit each other or not, but it didn't really matter.

Nearly an hour later, they finally broke apart, both of them panting to catch their breath, respecting sabers in hand. 

"Next time…" Xavier panted, "…I might just think about using my Buster."

"Heh," Rei scoffed. "You do that, X-Box."

"Shut up."

It was almost like none of the previous event had taken place at all, as the duo went right back to being friends from enemies within mere seconds. 

I swear, I've never seen a stranger duo than those two, X and I included. 

Anyway, we didn't really see them for the rest of the day. They asked Signas for a map on CD and left for their room. God knows what they were up to.

Oh, I managed to finish that report as well. Finally! Seemed to have taken me _ages_! So as you can figure out, I was _exhausted_!

…Hungry too.

I really had to eat something. 

So, I got out of my armor, and headed for the cafeteria. Usually, I don't go to the cafeteria, but I was too damn tired to either cook (which I can't even do) or go out. And well, I was damned starving!

Even though Reploids don't necessarily need to eat at all, seeing as we're still mere robots, Reploids imitate what they see humans do. So if they see humans eat, they eat. Don't ask how, because I have no idea how all of that works.

But back to the subject!

I left my room, and made my way down the hall --- but instead crashed straight into someone about two inches shorter than I was.

"Ow! Hey! Watch it will ya?!" a familiar voice shouted angrily.

I blinked and looked up into (startling) sapphire eyes.

"Xavier??" I questioned in surprise.

The guy's usual pale skin now had a slightly healthier look, and the most startling was that he was out of his armor. He only wore black, and most clothes seemed to just _cling_ to his body like a second skin, showing off the muscles of his chest, arms, and legs. He wore some tight jeans, and had four silver belts around his waist. The belts were way too big for his rather narrow hips, and dangled a little above his thighs, jingling lightly as he walked. There was also a chain hanging around his neck, with a set of rings of some kind on it. Both rings were silver and seemed engraved with odd symbols that I couldn't quite identify. He wore heavy, black leather boots, with small silver belts on them. He also wore a spiked choker, some black fingerless gloves with small silver studs near the knuckles, and there was a dark black ribbon tied securely around his upper-right arm. His arms were bare, and he also had a leather jacket on, and that ribbon still wrapped around his forehead. He had a symbol engraved silver ring on each finger but his thumbs, each sparking when the light fell on them. (3)

He blinked in surprise, then nodded plainly. 

"Yeah, something wrong?" he asked, but he must've noticed me taking in his skin, because he spoke a little later again. "Ah, don't bother. It's facial paint. A uh… a friend of ours gave it to us. Just in case we had to get out into town."

I frowned again, but before I could ask…

"And I wear contacts," he says, pointing one finger to his eyes.

"Oh."

Suddenly I noticed what he was clutching in his hand. Xavier was carrying two shopping bags in both his hands, and by the looks of it, they were stuffed with food and lots, and I mean, _lots_, of sprinkling, chocolate-sauce, whipped cream and other stuff like that. (4)

"What the hell did you buy?!" I asked, definitely surprised.

Xavier gave a small chuckle, and he had an almost evil glint to his eyes. There was something about that look that made me shiver.

"Now _that_ would be none of your business. But I'm sure you have enough imagination to fill you in," he said plainly, and walked off, not looking back once.

I frowned, watching him go until he turned a corner and vanished from my view. I stood there for a moment, before I finally started on my way to the cafeteria. All the while contemplating what Xavier had said.

Xavier really was a weird guy. I mean, what was one supposed to do with that much flaked chocolate and candy? Well, I guess either one of them must have a real sweet tooth.

And what the hell was that last sentence supposed to mean?

"I'm sure you have enough imagination to fill you in"???

What the hell does that…??

"TO HELL WITH YOU!!!" another familiar voice shouted, followed by the sound of flesh connecting to flesh. "One more move like that and that black eye won't be all you'll sporting for the following few weeks!!"

No sooner had that been said, or Rei came storming from the direction of the cafeteria, his crucifixes jewelry jingling as he went.

"Trouble?" I asked as he ran past me, causing him to stop.

Rei turned to face me in confusion, blinking at me. His clothes consisted out of some tight leather pants with some heavy black military boots, and he wore a leather jacket over the stark white shirt he had. On the shirt, was a wondrous red and yellow 'Z', much like the one I had on my shoulderpad, and behind it, there was a large Omega emblem. There was a bloodied rag around his upper-right arm. Around his neck, dangled a chain with a wondrous crucifix on it, and had quite a couple of them hanging on a bracelet on his left wrist. And he had one dangling from his right ear. Now I understand what he said with that he collected them. Also, Rei now had piercing emerald green eyes. Looks like he also wore contacts.

"Oh, Zero. Nah, just some guy trying to get their arse laid." 

I frowned at him.

"You didn't hurt him, did you?" I asked, getting a little suspicious.

"Oh come _on_!! Like you never hit someone who pissed you off!!" he stated calmly, placing his fists on his hips. 

Well… okay… but still…

"But no, I just gave him a black eye. That's all. Anyway, has Xavier returned yet? Guy said he had to do some shopping," Rei asked, then started grumbling. "I'm always last to know what he buys at the stores. Damn guy always wants to surprise me."

I blinked in surprise, then said: "Yeah, he's back. I ran into him on the way."

Rei looked up at me in surprise, then asked, almost curiously: "Really? Did you happen to see what he had with him??"

Wha???

"No," I lied, hoping he wouldn't catch on.

Luckily, he didn't. He just groaned in disappointment.

"Well, shit!" he cursed, then turned and headed down the hallway. "Then wish me luck, 'cause I don't think I'll be getting much shuteye tonight," he said over his shoulder to me, before disappearing from view.

I stood there for a long time, before I simply mumbled: "Weird…" and walking into the cafeteria.

(1) Happened to me once. ^^

(2) That's the armor from MMX6 with the saber installed in X's Buster. 

(3) Yep, that's the same outfit Rei "X" Thimoto wears in OtN.

(4) Hehehe. Three guesses what Xavier's gonna do with that! ^^

By the way, this is something I want you readers to tell me, but should Axl be in here, or not?


	5. Curiouser and curiouser

**__**

Darkness comes to Light

Chapter 5 X's POV; Curiouser and curiouser

A lot of time passed quickly after the first day that both Rei and Xavier staid at HQ. They mostly kept to themselves, but they weren't too ashamed to do a lot of things in the open. They didn't cause too much trouble, but they did know how to cheer a lot of people up. I didn't bother with anything they did. Whatever they did, was their business. But if they ever try something on me, I'll probably make it my business. 

In any case. Rei and Xavier kept switching turns when going shopping, as if they didn't need the other to know what they wanted. I never saw either of them leaving with a list, so they either always know what to get, or they have a really good memory. Could be both as well, I don't know.

The Hunters had gotten used to seeing Rei and Xavier walking around the base, chatting about several things that hardly seemed to make sense. Another thing about them. They seemed to be able to talk about anything whenever they wished. Also, a lot of things they talked about didn't seem to make any sense at all. Then again, they _are_ from a completely different world. Well, maybe not completely, but still slightly. 

For example, I sometimes heard Rei mention something he called "Are-See-Am" (1), and personally, that didn't make any sense at all. But Xavier seemed to know perfectly well what he meant. It was stuff like that that made me wonder about them. 

Neither of them was willing enough to explain though. It didn't really bother me, but I was still curious. I can't help it, really, I'm naturally curious about just about anything. 

As I already said, everyone had gotten used to them not long after they first showed up, but there were still the skeptics among the Hunters. One of them being Double.

You know, sometimes I wonder who in their right minds would repair Double. Okay, so I had liked him before the deal with Repliforce, but back then, I didn't know he was a spy for Sigma. Now, he more or less sickens me. Even more than Iris. …Is that even possible?? (2)

There's one more person I don't really like… can't say I hate him, but I just don't like him… I don't know… he's just… just too much like the way _I_ used to be before the very first Maverick War… I don't want him to become what I have become.

In case you're wondering just _who_ I'm talking about…… I'm talking about Axl Past, ex-Red Alert mercenary, and currently working for the Maverick Hunters.

No seriously, I have nothing against him, but he just shouldn't be here. This war isn't his concern. 

"Earth to X! Hello?! Anybody home!?" a familiar voice chided, accompanied with a set of knuckles crashing down on my head.

"OW!! Rei!! Knock it off!!" I cried, glaring as the blonde sat down on the bench I was sitting on.

I'd left MHHQ to get some fresh air, heading for the park a little further away from HQ to gather my thoughts. I'd decided against wearing my armor, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. Looks like Rei had the same idea. 

Rei just gave me a sly grin, and said: "Sorry. Couldn't help it."

I noticed he had a backpack slung over his shoulder, made out of black leather, much like most of his clothes. I have no idea what he sees in that stuff.

"What's with the backpack?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing," Rei said plainly, brining the pack from his shoulder and onto his lap. "Just had to pick up a few things. Lessee here…"

He started to rummage through the bag, seemingly searching for something. Either that, or he was just checking if he got everything. At one point, he almost shoved his entire head inside to see what was on the bottom. When he did, he was grumbling loudly, but it was mostly muffled by the bag. 

I watched him curiously, and suddenly, I heard him shout out a muffled: "Ah-HA!!" 

He pulled his head out and reached further inside to pull out something from the bag. It was a medium-sized plastic bottle with some sort of liquid in it. (3) The liquid was thick and hardly moved as Rei shook the bottle a little. A smirk formed on his face, and he calmly placed it back in his bag.

"Almost thought I lost it…" I heard Rei mumble. 

"What is that??" I asked, really curious now.

"Something."

I nearly pouted at that and I asked: "So what kind of _something_ is it??"

"Curious aren't we?" Rei teased childishly, reaching in his pocket. "Where the hell did I--Ah!"

He pulled out something from his pocket, something that looked like a small pack of cigarettes. Even though I had partially expected that, it was still a shock when it was confirmed. He took out one of the small cylinders, and put it in between his lips, before reaching into his other pocket, before producing a lighter. He held up one hand to shield the small flame as he calmly lit the cigarette, before placing the lighter back in his pocket.

He must've noticed me staring, 'cause he turned to me and asked: "What?"

"You actually smoke?!" I asked, unable to say anything else.

Rei simply shrugged his shoulders and took a deep breath. Before he exhaled, he took the cylinder in two fingers and casually blew the smoke from his mouth.

"Yeah… I have been for quite a couple of years now… I don't think I'll be able to stop anymore."

I frowned at him a little, unable to comprehend this.

"Have you ever tried?" I asked.

He blinked, before taking another drag of the cigarette.

"Hmmm… no."

"No?!"

"Something wrong with your hearing?" 

I said nothing for a moment as he just sat there on the bench, both arms slung over the back of the bench, his bag still lying in his lap. I suddenly noticed that in the light of the sun, his hair was almost a pale white color, giving it a color of sunlight, more so than that of Zero's. Zero's hair didn't look bad or anything, but I noticed the slight differences in appearance right away, having spent so much time with Zero.

"Hey X," Rei suddenly spoke up, holding the cylinder between his fingers. 

I blinked and focussed on his eyes, which were now about the same color as my own eyes. He was looking at me with a curious look on his face, but his eyes were still burning with thousands of different emotions.

"Just how long have you known Zero?" he asked. 

That was something I hadn't expected from him. And it caught me slightly off guard.

"Wha??"

"I'm just wondering how long you've known him. That's all."

I gave him a slight nod and looked up to the sky, quickly calculating the number of years since I first met Zero. The result was rather startling actually.

"Uh… 40 years, I guess…"

"Only 40?"

Okay, that surely hadn't bee what I expected to hear from him. I turned to him in surprise, and I saw him taking another drag of his cigarette, before exhaling again, eyes half-lidded.

"I've known Xavier for at least a little over 300 years."

"_Three-hundred_?!" I asked, quite shocked. 

He simply nodded and breathed a little patch of smoke through his nose. Didn't seem to bother him.

"We were fixed up somewhere after the Second Uprising, and we've been best friends ever since."

Wow… that must've been a long time…

Hey… wait a minute…

"If you were created after the Second Uprising…" I started, then hesitated, but I didn't need to finish.

"Don't remind me. I don't want to think about that."

I saw that his eyes had closed, and he seemed to be trying to banish something from his mind. After a while though, he spoke again.

"I should get going," he suddenly exclaimed, tossing the cylinder to the ground near his foot, before butting it out. "Been nice talking to ya, X."

And with that, he slung his backpack over his shoulder, and got up again. After giving me a simple nod, he was off, to MHHQ, I guess. 

I gave a soft sigh and stood up as well. It was getting late and all, so I figured I should head back too. I started walking to HQ, at a slower pace, just to give Rei the impression that I wasn't following him or anything. If he was anything like Zero, I'm sure he'd dislike having people follow him around all day.

After some time though, I stopped for a moment. It was getting late, but I didn't really feel like heading back to HQ right now. So instead of heading for the large building, I headed in the opposite direction. 

I have no idea how long I'd been wandering, but I remember staring down into several stores, not really looking, but pretending to be never the less. That is, until I passed a certain store I visited frequently. I just stood in front of the window for awhile, just watching, before I finally decided to head inside. 

The instant I did, my nostrils were invaded with too many scents to keep count and my ears were almost ringing with the number of cries from the animals all around. Nevertheless, I walk over to one of the cages, and peek down at the small cats playing around in it. One of them approaches me and starts meowing at me, staring at me with those huge little eyes. (4) Gingerly, I reach down, and it starts to paw playfully at the air as I reach down to pick it up. It meows happily, and tries to paw at my face a silly little smile playing on its face. 

I don't know why, but I really enjoy cats for some reason. I'd really love to own one, but the problem is that I can't take care of it most of the time. Which is why I come to this small pet store every time I can. 

I smiled at the little critter, before placing it back down with all its friends. After that, I finally decided to head back to HQ. 

The pace I had set was slow, and it gave me time to think. Whatever it was all about, I don't rightfully remember, but the next thing I know, a fist crashed into the wall not far away from my face.

A yelp tore from my throat, and I panted for breath as I looked up in surprise.

"Sorry 'bout that one," Xavier mumbled, pulling his fist away from the wall. "Damn!! I missed!"

"Missed what?" I asked in surprise and confusion.

"Nah, never mind. I should be going anyw---"

He suddenly slammed his fist against the wall again, making another yelp tear from my throat.

"Gotcha!!" Xavier chuckled, dusting off his hands.

I panted for breath, then turned to look at whatever he had just done. There was something small and black plastered to the wall, and I could vaguely make out eight squished legs.

"It's just a spider," I mumbled to Xavier.

"I know. That's why I squashed it."

I looked at him in astonishment. That came as a surprise.

"You're afraid of spiders??" I asked.

"Hell no!!" Xavier exclaimed. "I just _hate_ those damn things! With their fricking eight legs and all!" (5)

I chuckled slightly. Xavier sure knew how to make a situation even more comical than it already was.

"I'm serious!! Why can't they have four fucking limbs like everybody else!??!"

Needless to say, I got a good portion of laughs that day.

We talked for some time more as we walked through HQ for some time. Xavier really wasn't as bad as I had first expected him to be, but you just had to get to know him. Still, he seemed to dislike talking too much about his own world. I didn't ask too much, but whenever I asked something, whether it was about the base or his Unit, he always avoided the question by a mile.

After having him dodge all my questions thus far, I finally decided to just drop it, just as we ran into something I had never expected to see. 

"Shut up already!! I'm not like that!!" a familiar Irish (6) voice shouted in what sounded like anger.

Followed shortly by none other than…

"That's not what I've heard… Seems you had quite a rep with Red Alert, didn't you?"

…Dynamo… just perfect.

"S-stop it!!" Axl cried out amidst loud laughter of other Reploids. "Just shut up!!"

I gave one look at Xavier, and I could easily tell he was getting pissed with what was happening. We approached the group, but they never noticed us coming. That is, until Xavier cleared his throat.

Everyone instantly whirled around to face us.

Xavier stood with his arms crossed and tapping one foot against the floor, while I simply had my hands on my hips. I have no doubt that we looked pissed off.

Axl looked at us in confusion, but then relief seemed to wash over his face. Xavier gave a jerk with his head, and as if he had actually spoken, Axl rushed over and scurried off to hide behind us. He stopped tapping his foot, but he started tapping his fingers on his arm instead.

"So," I started as calmly as I could, "would someone mind explaining what this is all about?"

And of course, the only one daring to speak was Dynamo.

"Nothing much. We were just chatting a little bit about this and that," he said smoothly.

Xavier snorted and retorted with: "Like what? Whom to whore yourself next to or something of the kind?"

That really wasn't the kind of remark anyone had been expecting. But it was something I would've _never_ said, so I figured Xavier wouldn't be afraid to curse so heavily to someone.

"W-w-what?!?!" Dynamo stuttered, apparently caught off guard.

"You know, with us, we have rules about this kind of behavior," Xavier said, suddenly contemplative. "Get caught once and you get a warning. Get caught twice, you're expelled for two weeks. Get caught thrice…"

Pause.

Long one too.

Xavier brought up his right hand. At first it was a mere fist.

He then brought up three fingers.

"Three strikes…"

Then he flicked his thumb over his shoulder.

"…You're out…"

His eyes narrowed down to mere slits.

"…Permanently."

Each of the Hunters gulped in fear, and Dynamo did as well. I've never seen the bloke this scared before. 

"Understood?!" Xavier hissed, baring his teeth.

My eyes widened a little when I noticed his fangs extending to an almost inhuman size. The other Reploids noticed it too and cringed at the sight. But nevertheless, they nodded curtly, most likely not wanting to know what Xavier was planning to do with those.

That's when I noticed the change in his posture, and that could only mean one thing. As fast as I could, I covered my ears with my hands.

Just in time too.

"THEN GET THE FUCKING HELL OUTTA HERE ALREADY!!!" Xavier screamed at the absolute top of lungs, and trust me, that's very very _very _loud.

Each of the Hunters (and Dynamo) yelped in fright and ran like their tails were on fire (had they had one).

Once they were gone, Xavier started laughing.

"Hahahaha! Talk about your everyday cowards!" he managed to get out between fits of laughter.

Axl chuckled a little, but it was clear that he was also a little scared of what had just transpired. Xavier shook his head as his laughter finally died away, before he turned to Axl.

"So what was all that about anyway?" he asked the redhead.

Axl gave a shrug and a shake of his head.

"I have no idea! Dynamo just doesn't seem to like me all that much."

Xavier rolled his eyes, mumbling: "I could've figured that out on my own."

"By the way, you have quite the loud voice," Axl commented suddenly, a small grin making its way to his face.

Xavier blinked, then shrugged and said: "I should have. After all, I am……………"

Again, that silence. The same silence as when he had first woken up in Zero's room. His eyes suddenly became distant and he seemed unable to speak again. He seemed to be thinking about something awfully painful. 

"Axl, if you really want to stay here, you should at least learn to take care of yourself," I finally said, turning to the redhead in question. "We won't always be there to save your hide you know."

"And you should learn to take it easy."

Well, looks like Xavier found his voice again. 

I simply shrugged, not really bothered by that statement. A lot of people already told me I had to learn to calm down, but for some reason, I just couldn't find it in myself to do that. I don't know… guess I'm just too tense after 7 Maverick Wars. 

"It's getting late," Xavier suddenly said, startling us a little. "If you don't mind, I'm retiring to the dorms right now."

And he was gone.

He sure had a weird way of saying he was going to bed though. 

Well… whatever…

I decided not to bother anymore, and just headed for my room. It was really getting late, so maybe it'd be better if I just went to bed. But there was one small problem.

I wasn't tired.

And I had absolutely no idea what to do about that. So I just began to walk around the base for a little while. There really wasn't much to do at the moment. Then again, when was there? I snorted a little and continued on my way and…

BANG!!

…Crashed right into Zero.

"OW!"

"Ouch!"

"Oh, hey Zero."

"'Ey X…"

Well… at least one of us was tired.

"You okay?" I asked him, a little worried about him.

He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and I knew for one that he slept just fine. Or… so I thought.

Zero rubbed some dust from his eyes and mumbled: "'m fine… 'm fine…"

I frowned a little, studying him more carefully. There were black bags forming under his eyes, and he was lightly swaying on his feet. Not enough to make it show, but enough for me to know he was really tired. As if to prove it, he practically fell over, if I hadn't managed to catch him. 

"What happened to you?" I asked, trying to keep him on his feet.

Zero shook his head, trying to stay awake, but it was clear that that was getting hard. I rolled my eyes and started hauling him back to his own room. 

Luckily for me, that wasn't that far away from our current location. But by the time I got there, Zero had already fallen asleep. Lucky bastard…

Still, I had to find a way to shift his weight so I could type in the code. And that took a while with Zero over my shoulder. But I managed, just don't ask how.

Once I managed to chuck him onto the bed, I knew that I had to leave. Zero had fallen asleep the second his head hit the pillow, and I knew for one thing that Zero wouldn't appreciate it if I got him into his sleepwear. If he even owned that. 

I rolled my eyes at that thought and simply left, heading back for my own room. I knew I needed to sleep, but thing was, I still wasn't tired. 

"Problem?" a familiar voice asked, and I looked around in surprise.

"Oh hey Rei," I mumbled calmly. "And yeah, I've got a small problem. I'm supposed to be sleeping right now, but I'm not tired."

"Ah-ha. Now _that_ is a problem," Rei mumbled.

I noticed he had his jacket slung over his shoulder, and he had his hair loose from the usual ponytail. Instead, it was done in a rather classy braid. It didn't seem to bother him too much. 

He raked a hand through his bangs and sighed, before saying: "Well, you'll just have to try. If those Mavericks decide to show up anytime soon, you should be well rested."

I nodded at him and started walking, but Rei stopped me for a moment. He looked at me for a moment, not saying anything.

"What? Do I got something on my face?!"

Rei said nothing, and just walked off again.

Man… he keeps getting weirder each time I see him…

(1) Haven't said this in awhile…… If you know whom Rei was talking about, get yourself a cookie!

(2) If you couldn't tell, I hate Double. -_-;; I put him in mainly to torture him a little. :)

(3) That stuff will either be explained in the next couple of chapters, or never. (Depending on which version you're reading)

(4) I know that doesn't make sense, but I don't care. 

(5) If any of you ever read "Untitled as of yet" you should've already known this.

(6) I've never heard Axl speak (though I'm sure that some day I will (maybe in MMX8)), but in my opinion, an Irish accent would really suit him.

Alright, Axl's in the story now. So, how will this affect the storyline? By the way, should I make D. X & D. Zero fight some Mavericks to show X and Zero how it's done? (which will raise this fic to R by the way) And should I give X a kitty or not? ^^

BTW, you people decide the next POV:

Zero

Axl

Rei (D. Zero)

Xavier (D. X)

(I'd like to have that info for the next two chapters so I can work ahead)


	6. Blood Shed CENSORED!

****

Darkness comes to Light

**Chapter 6 Zero's POV; Blood Shed**

This, has really been one heck of a two months. And not in a good way. Why? Let me explain.

The day started out all right, though it was practically the same as the day before. The only thing that made it different, was what happened afterward.

Things were quiet, _way_ too quiet. And that couldn't mean any good, I knew that much. And I wasn't the only one who knew.

"Zero…"

I turned in surprise to see Xavier looking at me with an odd look. I noticed he wasn't wearing his contacts, which exposed his ruby-red eyes to the world. He seemed to be either angry, or dead-serious about something.

"Yeah, something wrong?" I asked calmly.

"………Be careful."

And he was gone. Did I ever mention those guys kept getting weirder and weirder by the day?

I left the hallway with a shrug, and headed for the cafeteria. Or at least, I'd planned to.

Three guesses what happened. Bingo, Maverick attack.

I got my armor on and headed for the war-room. Once again, we got a rather long briefing from Signas. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I'll keep it short. Bunch of Mavericks got a hold of a weapons-depot somewhere in the Sahara (what it even did there, I don't know) and we were sent to destroy them.

Nothing special, it was supposed to be a breeze.

Keyword, _SUPPOSED_!

…I'm getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, it was me, X, and, surprisingly, Axl. We were transported to a location about two miles away from the depot, not needing any unwanted company. Things went easy from there on as we raced for the depot, with our weapons out and ready to fire at anything we encountered. Yep, it was really an easy mission.

Maybe I should've realized back then that it was almost _too_ easy…

We made it to the depot in one piece, without as much as a scratch, which should've been enough to inform us that this wasn't what it appeared to be. I don't know… usually X would've been the one to notice, but he seemed to be rather out of it. His eyes had slight black rings under them, as if he hadn't slept last night, and it had made me worry for him. Axl hadn't seemed that bad off, but there was something troubling him, I could tell.

Still, by the time we realized it, it was already too late.

I'll keep it brief… it was a trap…

Somehow, they managed to disarm us, and had us unconscious within mere seconds. How much time passed, I'm not quite sure, but my internal clock told me about 6 hours. I didn't believe it though. Sadly enough, my clock can't tell me the date, so I was left in the dark about how long we'd been in that godforsaken place.

But that wasn't the worst of it…

Axl was still out, chained by his hands, much like I was, to the wall, looking like he was having a really bad dream. I tried calling out to him, but it didn't help. He just kept moaning and tossing his head from side to side.

Poor kid…

It took my slightly fuzzy mind about 5 whole seconds to realize what was wrong;

X wasn't with us…

He wasn't chained to a wall, the ceiling, lying on the ground… he was nowhere. The room was deadly silent, and almost pitch-black. I could make out various shapes, but nothing much. But I knew that X was not here with us.

Axl was moaning, I was nearly panting with hysterics… and those were the only sounds in the entire room…

Almost desperate, I tried to break the chains, but it didn't help. I don't know what these things were made of, but it served its purpose well, sadly enough.

When the door was suddenly flung open, my eyes instinctively shut against the invading light. I tried to see what happened, but it didn't help. I managed to see those Mavericks throw something into the room, before they slammed the door again.

Damn bastards…

A sniffle brought me back from my murderous thoughts though… which came from the bundle they had tossed into the room…

X…

At first, it was hard to tell, due to all the wounds and blood… and there was the fact that he huddled up and crying so softly it was barely audible.

Oh god… X…

"X… X!" I called out, trying to get him to look up.

It worked. His head snapped up so fast I thought it'd just snap right off, his eyes wide with fear and overflowing with tears. There were a few bruises covering his face, and several scrapes were visible, and a peculiar white stain was poised over his bottom lip. And it took me a little longer to realize that he was no longer wearing what he had when we came here.

'When I get my hands on those motherfucking--!!'

"Zero…??" he questioned softly, sounding like he had practically screamed his head off a little prior before this.

'Right, they're all going to die! But first things first.'

"Yeah, it's me…" I said softly, keeping every bit of anger from my voice. "Hey, c'mere."

I watched with growing anger as he slowly crawled over to me, wincing every once in a while and giving a hiss of pain. But I kept all that for later as X finally reached me and instantly slung his arms around my neck, sobbing uncontrollably in my shoulder.

I whispered soothing words in his ear to try and calm him, just a little, telling him everything would be all right. Had I been able to move my arms, I would've held him, but they're still chained up. I think X knew, but it didn't matter as he practically sat in my lap, still bawling, while I continued to shush him softly, telling him I was there for him.

Those Mavericks were in for a _very_ painful death once I found them…

But the way things turned out, that wasn't really necessary for me to do.

We must've dozed off somewhere, because a massive crash suddenly startled all three of us into awareness. X was still huddled in my lap, and he looked up fearfully at the door, as if expecting someone to come in and take him away. His grip on my neck tightened, and he was shaking in fear.

And within seconds, the door was sent crashing to the ground, most likely done by tossing the Maverick through it. The Maverick leapt and screamed in anger, before it changed into a scream of pain when a massive purple beam-saber was pierced through his stomach.

"Rei!?!?" I shouted, unable to comprehend what was going on.

But he didn't respond, just lashed upwards with the saber still impaled in the Maverick, thus tearing apart the Maverick with ease. Once the Maverick was dead, he turned to face us, and I noticed he'd ditched the facial paint and contacts, and his eyes were literally burning in what seemed like anger, unlike anything I've ever seen before.

With anger clear in his strides, he stalked over to us, scaring the shit out of X. When he raised the saber in his hand again, X cowered against my chest in fear, most likely not seeing who he was supposed to be seeing. But all Rei did was lash out at the chains keeping Axl and me chained up, destroying them without another glance.

After that, he tossed a familiar gun at Axl, my saber at me, and, almost gently, wrapped a cloak around X's shoulders. Something told me he had suspected this to happen.

"Get up!" he ordered, his voice monotone and emotionless.

Axl struggled to his feet, and I managed to stand up with X still clinging to my neck. I doubted he'd be able to walk in that position.

"Let's go!!" Rei shouted, and he whirled around, running out of the room.

As fast and careful as I could, I picked up X with one arm, grasping my saber in my other hand before rushing after him, with Axl not far behind.

Rei suddenly leaped and smashed with his feet against the wall, before sending himself dashing down one of the hallways. It was practically impossible to follow, but he never strayed too far from us. X was whimpering in pain as we ran. Axl said nothing, but it was clear it hurt him to see X this way.

"Stop!" Rei suddenly shouted, and came to a halt.

No sooner had we stopped or a Maverick was sent crashing through the wall. And coming out of it, looking pissed off as hell, was… three guesses. Yep. Xavier.

His right-arm was morphed into a massive Buster, but it was quickly retracted.

He turned our way and gave one curt nod, before he and Rei began to run. And we were left to run after them. It didn't really matter, as Xavier and Rei took out everyone that came into our path.

It really didn't take us long to get outside, but we had one more surprise waiting for us when we did.

I'll put it mildly; those Mavericks didn't want any of us to leave alive.

Xavier whistled a little and said: "Cripes, I haven't seen this much Mavericks since the Eurasia Incident."

"Tell me 'bout it…" Rei mumbled.

They both looked at each other for a moment, then smirked wickedly at each other.

"So? Shall we?"

"Do ya gotta ask?"

"All right then," Rei said, turning to the Mavericks again. "Then…"

I shivered at the venom and cold amusement present in his voice. Is it even possible to speak with those emotions at the same time??

"LET'S ROCK AND ROLL!!!"

Xavier literally howled as he tossed his head back, before it morphed into a full-out laugh that sounded like that of a madman (1). And that was all the warning the Mavericks got as they were sent careering through the air.

Whether it was intentional or not, they fought so fast, it was rather hard to follow. Suddenly Xavier's eyes looked toward the corner of his eyes, and his head swiveled around with a look of surprise.

"ZERO!! BEHIND!!!" he screamed, and Rei swiveled around in surprise, before ducking underneath a blazing red beam-saber.

Rei growled, then roared in anger and lashed out with several massive arcs, before he pulled out a massive Buster-gun, and finished off the job. He looked over at Xavier and gave him a quick smirk. Xavier returned the gesture, before both continued fighting Mavericks.

Axl was gaping from beside me, and he looked absolutely awestruck at how Rei and Xavier were fighting. Truth be told, so was I.

And it didn't take them long to finish up.

Once they were, they were --- laughing. No lie, they were practically laughing their heads off, as they worked to get as much blood off their armor as they could. Once they could stop, they returned to their serious selves, and Xavier cast a look our way.

"Come on. We can't teleport due to the energy-field around here, so we might as well leave while we still can!" he shouted at us.

I nodded simply and Axl and I easily followed the duo.

Whereto you ask? The truck they used to get here.

Unable to recall our armor, all we did was remove our helmets as we all climbed in the truck. Xavier told Axl to get in front with Rei, while he told me to take X with him and me into the back. Only when we were inside did I realize what for.

The back of the truck was rather spacious, and seemed most fit to treat an injured person in it. X was close to unconsciousness, but he still tried all he could to stay awake, I could tell.

"You have to stay awake, X," Xavier said softly, unlike how he had acted and spoken earlier on. "We have to make sure you have no internal damage, and otherwise endangering wounds."

X began to shake in what seemed like fear, and clutched my neck tighter, looking ready to cry again. I looked down at him, not at all knowing what to do.

I turned to Xavier and asked: "Now?"

"Now, Zero," Xavier confirmed, nodding slightly. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I'm no Lifesaver or Gate, but the least I can do is tend to the most serious wounds."

X still looked a little unsure, but Xavier simply offered a kind smile, which made X relax ever so slightly. As the truck began to slowly move, X allowed me to lay him down on the small cot present. But he refused to let go of my hand though.

Xavier didn't bother with the small gesture and gently moved the folds of the cloak aside. X was literally shaking in fear, but I staid beside him, holding his hand and moving a hand soothingly through his hair.

Though he was very thorough, Xavier was also very careful, as if knowing all too well what X was gong through. But still, X was petrified of the contact, which I could understand perfectly.

Xavier pulled out a small box, which I recognized as a first-aid kit, and took out a brown bottle and a few balls of cotton. After taking off the childproof cap with utmost ease, he thoroughly soaked one of the cotton balls, before placing the bottle aside.

He turned to X and said: "This is going to sting a little."

I already had a feeling of what it was, and it was only confirmed when he began to clean out X's wounds. X looked like he was about to scream, but he managed to stop it, and I felt the pressure on my hand increasing, but it didn't matter to me. Once that was done, Xavier carefully wrapped up every one of his wounds, treating them with care to avoid further harm.

X really looked afraid, and I couldn't imagine what had to be going through his mind.

"Zero," Xavier suddenly said, looking at me sternly.

"Hmm?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I need to check for any internal bleeding. But I doubt X will let me," he said, looking at X, who was still shaking in fear.

For a moment, I didn't understand what he was trying to say, but once I got it, I looked at him like he was crazy. But he just gave me a look that told me all I needed to know.

I nodded softly, and gingerly placed a hand on X's shoulder to get his attention.

"X…" I whispered, making him look at me with tearing eyes. "Listen, buddy, Xavier's gotta check you for internal injuries. Just to make sure you'll be all right."

X looked at me as if I just told him he was going to die, and he vigorously shook his head in fear, clutching onto my arm like it was a lifeline, curling up into a small ball. I sighed softly, and carefully unfolded him. He still looked deathly scared, and just about ready to cry.

"X, he won't hurt you. I promise," I told him quietly.

Xavier said nothing, and just watched, seemingly waiting for X to come to his senses.

"Y-you swear?" X all but squeaked out.

I nodded, smiling reassuringly at him.

"Yes, I swear. I won't let him."

I turned to Xavier to give him a glare for good measure, but I think he knew I was just doing it to reassure X, as he didn't bother at all. X peeked over to him as well, and slowly, but surely, he moved his legs apart, still looking scared like hell, but at least allowing Xavier to work.

Xavier gave a short nod and picked up a small instrument, one I had never seen before, and hopefully would never have to see again.

"This is going to feel slightly uncomfortable," Xavier warned, gently. "But try not to move, okay?"

X nodded, gulping in slight fear.

I frowned a little, and bit my lip in thought for a minute, before I smirked a little.

"Hey, X," I said, drawing X's attention to me. "You remember that picture of the magazine I snapped?"

X blinked, twice, and then a shaky smile forced its way onto his lips, before he tried to laugh; though it sounded more like a small cough.

"Yeah… do you think she knows that we…?"

"Dunno. But it'll be fun to figure out, now won't it?"

This time he _did_ manage to laugh, and I chuckled wholeheartedly.

"Okay, I'm done," Xavier suddenly announced, and X looked up in surprise.

"Wha?! B-but I didn't---"

"Thanks for keeping him occupied, Zero," Xavier said simply, giving me a knowing look, before he pulled out a laptop from somewhere.

X blinked in surprise, then turned to me.

"Zero??" he asked, confused.

I smiled and said: "You tend not to notice that kind of stuff when your mind's on other things."

X just managed to return the smile, before Xavier spoke again.

"By the looks of it, you've only got a few minor scratches, and that's it," he said calmly, looking up from his laptop as he shut it. "You should be okay within a week or two."

I helped X to sit up, and draped the cloak around him again. He tried to smile, but it was still a little shaky.

"Here," Xavier said calmly, handing over a small package to X. "They're probably a bit big, but it's better than nothing."

X blinked, but he accepted the package anyway. Apparently, those guys knew what to expect, because the package contained several articles of clothing. X didn't even have to Xavier to turn around, because that guy actually leaned back against the wall of the truck and said he was going to catch some shuteye.

And he did just that.

Simply shut his eyes and fell asleep.

X allowed me to help him dress, and he seemed just about ready to fall asleep himself, but he didn't. He just staid up, not wanting to go to sleep, don't ask why. We just sat there for some time, just talking, remembering several things we went through, and at the same time, trying to keep it quiet so as not to wake Xavier.

As X adjusted his shirt again, I took one more look at what he was wearing. It wasn't much. Just a plain white shirt and some faded jeans, and, like Xavier predicted, too big for X. Nevertheless, it really was better than nothing.

Suddenly, X asked something I had no answer to.

"Zero, how long have we been in that place?"

I blinked, and looked at him in surprise.

"Why do you ask?" I countered.

X shrugged and said: "Just curious."

"…'bout two months," Xavier's groggy voice mumbled, and we turned to him in surprise.

He was looking at us through one eye, which was only open half-mast anyhow, and he really looked sleepy.

"Did we wake you? Sorry 'bout that…" I mumbled, but he waved it off.

"Dun bother…" he murmured, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Didn't get much sleep last night… or the night before that… or before that…"

I winced and said: "Insomnia sucks, huh?"

"Yep."

"Why didn't send someone for us sooner?" X asked.

Xavier smirked a little and said: "Rei and I are actually here on our own accord… We weren't sent by anybody."

I blinked and asked: "How so?"

"Signas wouldn't let anyone. He stated everyone was needed to guard MHHQ," Xavier hissed, then spit into one of the corners, as if he just bit down on something vile. "Bullshit. If you ask me, he just didn't want to save you guys. Just don't ask why."

I frowned in anger, and X just looked horrified.

"I just don't get that bastard!!" Xavier hissed. "I mean, Z would've never---ACK!!!" he suddenly caught himself and clamped both his hands over his mouth, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

I blinked at him, and asked: "Who??"

"Just forget I said that!" Xavier hissed, removing his hands. "Rei will _kill_ me if he hears what I just blurted out!!"

X and I looked at each for a moment, before turning back to Xavier. He said nothing and just sat there, elbows on his knees and staring at the floor.

Suddenly, X yelped.

"M-my armor's still back there!!" he cried out, and I sweat-dropped.

"Why are you fussing about that now!?" I asked, looking at him skeptically.

Xavier rolled his eyes and picked up a box, which he then tossed straight at X with "Catch!" as the only warning.

X yelped, but caught it easily. And, upon opening it, he found…

"Hey! How'd you get this?!" he asked, staring at Xavier.

Xavier held up two fingers and said: "We spent two whole weeks combing out that entire place. So we've been just about everywhere in that place."

Curiously, X looked at him for a moment, then placed his armor aside for a moment.

"Thanks Xavier."

Xavier said nothing for quite a time, before he simply smiled and said: "Don't mention it. No one deserves to go through any of that. Nobody."

We nodded calmly, agreeing wholeheartedly.

Xavier leaned back against the wall and sighed.

"Right, it'll take 3 days to return to MHHQ, so I'm going to sleep a little more. I suggest you two do the same."

I nodded, and leaned back as well, watching as Xavier easily managed to fall asleep against the wall. The guy must've been really exhausted.

"Zero?"

"Hmm?"

I looked down at X, and noticed him looking at me, a little unsure about something.

"Something wrong, X?"

"Not really… but… can you stay with me? Please?"

I looked at him for a second, before I stood up and walked over to him. I sat down behind him and gently pulled him against him, allowing him to lean against me. X smiled up at me, before he snuggled up into my chest and beginning to fall asleep.

"Thanks… Zero……"

And I could've been mistaking, but I could've sworn I saw Xavier smirk.

.

(1) Yep, that's just how my brother and X act before they go into battle.

Right, I've decided to keep Zero after X, but now, Axl comes after Zero, and it'll be Rei and Xavier after that. And to those wondering about the versions, there's one on FanFiction.Net (censored), and one on AdultFanFiction.Net (uncensored). There's not much going on in the censored one, as the real action will all happen in the uncensored one.


	7. Bonding

****

Darkness comes to Light

Chapter 7 Axl's POV; Bonding

I wasn't really too sure about this, because… just between you and me, I'm claustrophobic, courtesy to Red Alert. (1)

Yeah, the guys from Red Alert weren't so bad, but the dorms could use some work. Well… "dorms"… more like oversized broom-closets to me… I was _so _glad I actually got a bigger room when I came to MHHQ. No one knows about it, of course, with the exception of Zero. Well, he had to, seeing as I had to take the elevator with him once. God, I don't think I've ever been that scared in my whole life.

I _hate_ elevators!

Nevertheless, I said nothing and just got into the truck. Rei took the driver's seat, while I settled in the passenger's seat. After fastening our seatbelts, Rei calmly started up the truck, and we were off. Rei said nothing as he kept his eyes straight ahead, focussed completely on the road home.

I didn't try to make conversation, and just looked outside, trying to forget that I was stuck inside a much too small place. I tried to keep my breathing under control, but it was getting harder and harder. I folded my arms across my chest, gripping my upper-arms in my hands tightly as I tried to curl up right there, without drawing too much attention to myself.

"If you're uncomfortable, you should really say so."

I yelped in surprise, looking at Rei in surprise. He still had his gaze aimed on the road, but I could tell he knew.

I gulped slightly and said: "I'm sorry."

"Save it," Rei said plainly. "Not like you can help it."

I looked at him in surprise, but he said nothing more. It really seemed like it didn't bother him.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, rather curious to why he didn't seem disgusted.

He looked at me for a moment from the corners of his eyes, and said: "What I said; it's not like you can do anything about it."

"Oh," was all I managed to get out.

For a moment, neither of us said a word. But when the silence became too much, I broke it.

"Is X going to be all right?"

"Probably. He didn't appear to have any serious injuries."

I nodded softly, then asked: "How'd you know we needed help?"

Rei shrugged his shoulders casually, but didn't answer.

Figures. For some reason, I hadn't really been expecting an answer from him. Then again, could've been just me.

For a long time, neither of us said a word, and the only sound I heard was that of the engine running. Pretty soon, the place was very quiet.

Too quiet.

"So…" I started, trying to make conversation. "What do you mostly do when you have time to spare?"

Rei looked a little at me, looking a bit surprised, before returning his attention to the road.

"Training, mostly," he stated bluntly. "Otherwise, I just get out."

"To do what?" I asked him.

Hey, call me curious, but I can't help it!

Rei chuckled a bit.

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

At that, Rei laughed a little, then looked at me for a moment.

"Curious, aren't we?"

"Can't help it!" I said, nearly on the edge of my seat.

He turned back to the road, chuckling a bit. He seemed to do that a lot when he was amused.

For a long moment, he didn't say a word, but he kept that amused look on his face. Still, he didn't answer, giving off the impression he wouldn't answer at all. A lot of people tend to do that. Not answering to avoid the subject I mean. I've seen it several times at Red Alert, with a few of my old friends. They wouldn't respond to anything in order to avoid the subject. I also learned that if they decided to do that, it was impossible to make them talk.

So finally, I turned to look out the window…

"Bar hopping."

I instantly whirled back around, eyes wide in surprise.

"Say WHA!"

That only made Rei laugh, and I frowned. So THAT was why he didn't say anything. Jerk.

Chuckling, Rei kept his attention focused on the road, saying: "That, or Xavier and I find something to do in our dormitory."

"Such as?"

"Now there is something that's none of your business."

I pouted, but Rei seemed unaffected. Instead, he kept his eyes focused on the road. Not wanting the silence to return, I decided to speak up again.

"How'd you know we were in trouble?"

Rei chuckled a bit, then turned serious and said: "You didn't return to HQ by the time you should've finished the mission. That was enough to worry everyone."

"So why'd no one come?"

"They didn't dare. Apparently, they didn't want to disobey Signas."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Signas wouldn't let _anyone_ leave the base to look for you guys."

"Say _WHAT?_"

"OUCH! 'EY! Watch it will ya?"

"…Sorry."

"'s Alright. I'm used to it anyhow. In any event…" he stopped himself mid-sentence and smacked himself to the head. "Dammit! I'm starting to sound like Laze!"

"Who?"

"…Oh, Laze's a Commander with us. Anyway, Signas wouldn't let anyone leave the base, stating they were "desperately" needed at the base."

Suddenly he rolled open the window and spit outside, before closing it again. That action made me blink a bit in confusion.

"Pff. Bunch o' bullshit if you ask me."

"Why'd you spit out the window?" I asked him, a tad bit confused.

Rei looked at me a bit oddly, but finally, he shrugged and turned to the road.

"It's something you do when you state something another has said, and you know it's a lie."

"…I don't follow."

The blonde rolled his eyes, then grumbled: "Get some rest squirt. It'll take about 3 days to return to base if we drive nonstop."

"Oh…" I mouthed, before I made myself comfortable. "'Kay, if you're sure…"

"Yes, I am. Now get some rest."

"'Kay…" I mumbled, a bit softly, closing my eyes.

I wasn't really sleepy, but it might really be a good idea to get some rest. I yelped in surprise when the chair suddenly toppled back, before looking over to Rei in confusion. He barely shrugged, bringing his hand back to the steering wheel and refocusing on the road. I blinked, before leaning back and stretching a bit, before closing my eyes again while lying on the (now reclined) chair.

I couldn't remember much of whatever I'd been dreaming off, but I knew it must've been one of my worse memories. All I remembered was pain, and the fact that my body burned violently, as it tended to do in situations like that…

And I found myself waking up to someone nudging my side cautiously. I looked out from under heavy eyelids, blinking slightly in confusion. When my vision cleared, I noticed Rei looking down at me a bit worriedly, though it didn't show very much.

"You 'kay?" he asked quietly.

I hummed a bit, nodding a little, before rubbing at my eyes… which made me realize I'd been crying during my sleep. Then I guess it's really no wonder Rei asked.

"I'm okay…" I said quietly.

Rei looked like he didn't believe me, but he didn't say anything and just turned back to the road ahead. I guess I oughta be glad he didn't, 'cause I didn't feel like talking too much, and I couldn't rightfully remember what got me upset. If there'd been anything at all…

"Are we there yet?"

"Not yet. And don't ask again."

"I wasn't-"

"I know."

I blinked a bit in confusion, but before I could ask…

"A friend of mine kept on asking 2 seconds after I answered… tends to get annoying about the tenth time…"

For a second, I didn't say anything, before I giggled, causing Rei to look at me curiously. I shrugged a bit, making him roll his eyes, before returning to the road ahead. I didn't really bother, and sat up again.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Twelve hours."

"Whoa! Guess I was more tired than I thought…"

Rei just shook his head a bit, chuckling softly. We were silent for a long time, and I just watched Rei for a while as he drove. He was really calm, which kind of surprised me, considering the situation. His hands were loosely gripping the steering-wheel, and he simply looked calm. Still, if I hadn't seen him and Xavier in action a few hours earlier, I would've said they really were.

Now however, I was beginning to hesitate about whether they were Mavericks themselves. But then again, if they were, shouldn't the scanners at HQ have said so?

For a second, I hesitated about the matter, before I decided to risk it.

"Um… Rei?"

"Hmm?"

I gulped, then asked: "Are… are you a Maverick?"

Rei looked at me oddly for a minute, before he turned to the road again.

"Nope," he finally said. "I fight like one, but I'm not a Maverick."

I didn't have a comment for that at the moment, but a little later, I asked: "But why do you fight like a Maverick?"

No response for a while, before…

"Back home… meaning, where Xavier and myself are from, it's the only chance we have to survive. The Mavericks with us are at least ten times more powerful than the ones we had to face yesterday. Not saying we wouldn't be able to retire them, but they're still tougher than those losers."

"Wow…" I mouthed, having a bit of trouble believing that one.

Even so, I did NOT want to see the Mavericks Rei and Xavier had to deal with on a daily basis. If any of us would have to fight Mavericks as strong as Rei claimed them to be, then I think we'd be pretty much dead before we could even raise our weapons.

"I don't think I _want_ to see what your place is like…"

Rei just laughs.

"I'm guessing most people around here would say that," he mumbles, looking out of the window. "…It's too bright here…"

"Huh?"

"It's darker at home. Even when the sun's out, it's still dark. Not sure when that happened, but it did…" he mumbled, before shrugging. "I'm not used to this brightness…"

I just nod, unable to understand what he rightfully means. I mean, if the sun is shining, how can it still be dark? Doesn't make any sense to me…

I spent most of the trip asleep, but every time I woke up, Rei was still driving casually, not paying too much attention to the surrounding area and just focusing on where to go. As we drove, I couldn't help but wonder if X and Zero were okay in the back and all…

But I tried not to think about it too much. I was getting hungry, but luckily, I was a Reploid, and I didn't necessarily eat. Oh well, I'd be sure to stock up again at HQ.

For some reason… the moment we returned to HQ came rather fast. At least… for me it did.

When we arrived, everyone was rushing down the hallways to see if we were really back, I guess… Xavier helped X and Zero out (X was back in his armor, I noticed…) while Zero just got out without a word. I didn't bother and just got out as well.

As expected, just about everyone was there, asking us if we were alright and if we trashed those Mavericks. I thought it was good to know you were loved enough to have others worry about you that much.

But that was before Signas showed up… that ended up like _hell_.

He was _so_ pissed that Rei and Xavier went looking for us when he had ordered everyone to stay at MHHQ. But Rei actually retorted that the two of them weren't even part of the Hunters, which was why they could be spared to rescue us. Good enough reason for me, but Signas was still very much pissed off.

Not as much as Xavier though. I could see he was literally shaking in fury and trying not to rush forward and just strangle Signas right then and there.

But then Signas said that we would've been fine, that we could've broken out on our own, and that we could survive everything… (2)

…Big mistake…

I never saw anyone move that fast before, but the next thing I knew, Signas was sent smashing into the wall of the hangar, a massive dent in his chest-armor. It probably could've been worse, if Rei hadn't managed to restrain the furious Xavier. Of course, Xavier struggled violently, screaming obscenities I seriously wish I'd never have to hear. If I hadn't seen it, I would've never thought Xavier to seriously be the type to lose his temper that quickly.

…That one time with Dynamo didn't count.

Xavier was so pissed he probably could've been confused with a Maverick, and I was almost afraid someone would actually shout "Maverick!" No one did however, as they seemed to realize that Xavier was just seriously pissed off.

After a while though, Xavier's struggles ceased, and he panted for breath. He took a deep breath, and sighed heavily.

"I'm alright now…" he said silently.

"If you say so… but I'm knocking ya out if you're not," Rei warned.

"I'm okay, really…"

Rei seemed to hesitate, before letting go. Xavier rubbed his shoulder a bit, wincing from time to time. As he rubbed his temples, I heard him mumble something about needing fresh air, before he dashed out. We watched him go, and I was seriously considering going after him to ask if he was really okay.

"Two hours," Rei suddenly said, making everyone turn to him. "Give him two hours, and he'll be fine."

I looked at Zero and X, who both shrugged slightly, to say that they didn't know either.

As Signas was helped back to his feet…

"Oh, Signas?" Rei asked, and everyone froze. "We need to talk. Now."

His tone of voice was enough to scare everyone. It was a tone that _demanded_ authority, and promised extreme pain if not given. I dunno exactly what power he held in his own world (he never mentioned any of that) but I guess he really had a high rank at his home.

Signas seemed ready to just refuse, but when Rei's left hand (his sword-hand) twitched dangerously, he just nodded. Rei nodded back, before turning to us.

"I'll take care of this," he said simply, but still silently so only we could hear.

I nodded, and looked over to see X and Zero do the same. Rei returned the favor and stalked out after Signas. For a long moment, no one spoke up, before Alia turned to us.

"Why did Xavier get so mad?" she asked us.

X shrugged a bit, shaking his head slightly. I shrugged and held up my hands, knowing as much as she did on this territory. Zero however, seemed to be a bit thoughtful…

"Zero?" X asked cautiously.

"I've got an idea…" Zero said, biting his lip. "But I'm not sure if Xavier would appreciate it if I said that. Especially if it turns out to be false."

Everyone winced, not wanting to end up on Xavier's bad side. Even so, I couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with Xavier, so, without any of the others noticing, I slipped out of the room and went in search of him. That took some time, but I finally found him on the one place where one could be alone.

The roof.

He wasn't really doing anything there. Actually, he was just sitting there, on the edge of the building and looking straight ahead toward the horizon (as far as I could tell). He'd taken off his helmet, which was sitting beside him, and he seemed to be lost in thought.

"…You're not very good at stealth, Axl…" he suddenly said, making me yelp.

"Wha! How'd ya know it was me?"

I saw him shrug a little as I walked over quietly. I sat down beside him, and noticed he was just staring ahead, not really seeing anything.

"…You wanted something?" he finally asked.

I didn't say anything for a minute, before I shrugged a little.

"Not really… just wanted to make sure you're alright."

Xavier looked at me for a minute, before he sighed and turned away. He didn't say anything, and just looked ahead.

"…I'll be okay…" he finally mumbled. "Just a few bad memories that don't wanna leave…"

I looked at him, thinking about it for a minute, before gingerly placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You wanna talk about it…?"

"……I'd rather not…"

And suddenly, he started chuckling.

"…You okay?"

"Fine… fine… It's just that I'm still not used to seeing you… well… the way you are…"

"…Wait… I'm different too?" I asked, blinking.

He just shook his head, and said: "You don't wanna know."

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!"

"…yes you do."

"No I don-HEY!" I cried out, realizing what he just did, frowning when he burst out laughing.

But I wasn't really angry, and just smiled when he seemed to be okay again. I couldn't really say I found Xavier and Rei frightening. I just had to stay on his good side, meaning I couldn't piss them off. Not that I was about to… but you get the idea.

…But why did Xavier treat me normally, when X didn't?

"Hello! Earth to Axl! Wake up!" Xavier suddenly called out, clocking me to the back of my head.

"OWIE!" I cried out. "Hey! That hurt!"

Xavier just shrugged, smiling a bit impishly. I pouted a bit, my head hurting pretty badly.

"Not funny! That really hu-OW!" I yelped when Xavier suddenly grabbed my head.

For a second, it hurt… and then it was gone…

I blinked, before looking at Xavier when he let go. He just shrugged, looking straight ahead again. When he didn't say anything, I just looked ahead as well. I smiled slightly when I saw the sun setting into the ocean. I'd never bothered to look, mainly because I hadn't had the time to do so. It was rather beautiful to look at though.

When Xavier suddenly sighed, I looked up, only to see him stand up again.

"It's getting late… might's well head inside, don't you think?"

I just nodded and got up, before running after Xavier as he walked off.

Only when we split up in the hallways did I realize that two hours had passed since Xavier left the hangar for the roof…

* * *

(1) I really doubt Axl's claustrophobic, but hey, the Axl that Rei and Xavier know (or Past, as he's known during RP's) has a serious attitude problem, and I needed to give Axl SOME kind of problem.

(2) Sorry about the lack of conversation, but I'm still not very good when it comes to Signas.

* * *

One more question; Axl's in the story, BUT who should I pair him up with? I have several ideas, but I'm not sure whom to pick. 


	8. Dark Demonic Rumble CHAPTER 9

_**Darkness comes to Light**_

_Chapter 9 Dark X's POV; Dark Demonic Rumble_

Ugh… damn, am I sore… Esh… rough night. Oh well, I shouldn't be complaining anyway.

As I blink my eyes open, I instantly spot Zero, still asleep beside me. Wouldn't blame 'im. Not after last night's nightmare… Hell, I can guess what it was about. It's been a while since he last had that dream, though…

Well, dream… memory would be more like it…

Shaking the thought away, I get out of bed and stretch out for a minute, cracking the joints in my neck a few times before I start getting dressed. After tying my ribbon about my head again, I take a moment to look in the mirror, before turning away again, heading for the kitchen to fix breakfast. Damn, I _hate_ mirrors…

Well _anyway_, I do believe it was my turn to cook this time around. Entering the kitchen, I realize Zero never got around to putting the leftover spaghetti in the fridge. Damn. Well… we _were_ rather busy weren't we? Heheh. I'm just glad he had the common sense to put the lids on the pans. Taking the pan with the sauce, I somehow manage to get it in the fridge before I scoop the noodles into one of those tupperware thingies, or whatever, before they follow the sauce into the fridge.

"Now!" I say, clapping my hands together. "Breakfast!"

Nothing Japanese right now, though… don't think Zero's ready for that yet… And eggs and bacon is just cliché. Hmhmhmhmmm… Salad's out. I know he hates that (or as he'd say "I ain't a rabbit.") so what does that leave?

I finally just pull out a number of slices of bread and several other things, such as cheese, ham, pepperoni, mustard, and that kind of stuff. By the time I finished mixing it all together, I had two tape-sized sandwiches dripping with all sorts of sauces that I had added. So we'd better keep some tissues within reach when eating.

And, speak of the devil, just as I turn to head to the bedroom, Zero walks into the room, rubbing his eyes and letting out a bit of a yawn. "Ohayo," he mumbles around the yawn, making me chuckle.

"Yeah, ohayo. C'mon, I fixed breakfast, so let's eat, ne?"

"Sure…" he mumbles sleepily, and I briefly note he'd redone his hair, plus pulled on his pants again. I hand him a plate with a sandwich and we sit down on the table to eat in silence. He still looks awfully sleepy, and almost spills all of the sauces back onto the plate, making him dip the sandwich into them more often than not.

Not that I was a very clean eater with this, but hey.

"So any clue what to do today?" I ask after a moment.

Zero blinks, before he shrugs. "I dunno. Your call."

My call, huh? Esh, that doesn't leave much room open now, does it? But what's there to do here anyway? Back at home, what we'd usually do on our spare time was just sit in the room or train. Or… …… a-HA!!

Allowing a small smirk, I quip: "I think I've got an idea."

"With that look on your face… it can't possibly be good…"

"Being a smartass is my job!"

Zero just shrugs.

* * *

After we finish eating, Zero goes to clean up and get dressed, so I take the time to read a book I'd found someplace. It wasn't really that interesting, and pretty corny, but I still read through the whole thing. I at least wanted to know how the thing would end. Who knows, there might be a very nasty plottwist in here somewhere and the main char will kill everyone. I doubt it, but it'd be fun, right?

As Zero finishes up, I dogear the page and get up. "You ready to go?"

"Go where?" he asks in return. I just roll my eyes and lead him out of the room.

Whilst moving through the halls, neither of us pay any attention to the stares directed at us. They better get used to us soon, 'coz we probably won't be leaving for a while. And I ain't planning on changing anything about us, and I doubt Zero would, too. Hell, that's a guarantee.

As we step into the recreation room, first thing to notice is the amount of noise. Hmm, seems a few people had the same idea as I had. Zero looks a little surprised, before he smirks, watching in amusement as someone trips over and makes the machine give out a loud "FAILED!!"

Heheh… honestly…

"That your idea?" Zero quips at last.

"Yep."

He hums a little, before he smirks and says: "Cool."

Figured he'd say that. As the next rookie steps up on the machine, we decide to just stand back and watch 'em make fools of themselves. At first, it seems to be going good, before he makes one too many wrong moves and winds up with the dreaded "FAILED" screen as well.

"Looks like they set it to Heavy," Zero quips softly. I just nod, because it sure seems like it. It's not as chaotic as Challenge, but some of them get awfully close.

"Enjoying yourselves?" a familiar voice quips and we turn our heads in synch to face Zero's Light.

Zero just shrugs. "Well, it's pretty funny to see them make fools of themselves," he says, gesturing for the machine up ahead. His Light turns to face it as well, just as someone else falls over and gets the far too dreaded screen.

"Now _that_ was pathetic…" I mumble softly.

Zero's Light looks at me, then says: "Well, it's not that easy."

"It's only DDR for cryin' out loud!" I exclaim. I notice the slight twitch of my best friend and turn on him. "One word and you die!" I warn dangerously, ignoring the fact that his Light won't understand a thing of what we're talking about.

Zero has the audacity to blink, twice, before he smirks. "Word," he quips.

"Alright that's it!" I hiss, and yank him along by his arm, making him yowl. I ignore it and just drag him toward the nearest console, watching with a bit of amusement as everyone immediately clears the runway, so to speak.

I shove Zero toward the console, and he can only just find his balance by grabbing hold of the bars behind it meant for extra leverage. "Esh, no need to get so pushy," he mumbles softly.

"Oh just shut up," I mumble, scrolling through the selections of songs. And then I spot it.

Smirking, I set the song, taking the level up to Challenge. Zero spots what I'm doing and smirks icily, getting in position as I finish. As we stand on our marks, we just wait for the song to start. We don't really pay attention to the surroundings, even as everyone gathers round, as a voice begins to speak from the machine.

"A young man trying to impress beyond his abilities. Too spiced, too um… uh… too many notes."

And we're off! (**1**)

The pace is hectic and rapid, over a thousand, if not two thousand, notes. Many rookies wouldn't have been able to make it past the first 400, but we've practiced this one so many times before that it almost comes naturally. Slamming our feet down onto the arrows, we keep our eyes on the screen even though we basically know the song by heart, not paying a bit of attention to the gobsmacked faces around us.

As the song reaches a slower point with lots of long steps, I take a quick moment to crick my neck, while Zero pops his knuckles, before we move again. The song barely gives one a moment to get a breather, so you need some heavy duty stamina for this one.

When it comes to an end, I let out a small sigh, while Zero stretches out his legs a little as the score is calculated. I didn't really pay attention to it, having been busy watching the arrows and all…

"Ah, crap," Zero grumbles, and I smirk. I managed to get one more Marvelous than he did, managing to stand out a few points above him. Hehehe. "One more go?"

"Different song this time," I agree to with a nod. This time it's Zero's turn to pick, even as more and more people gather round. Well, see if we care.

Scrolling through the list, Zero seems to hesitate, before he settles on one.

…uh-oh… Oceans of Time… I hate that one… and he _knows_, dammit… (**2**)

The fact is, it's not such a bad song; but there's the fact that you actually have to press four arrows at the same time. Luckily he set it to Heavy instead of Challenge or this would've been impossible. THAT one is just _sick_. As the music starts, we both start to move a little to get ready for when the notes appear. Standing still is never recommended when playing this; you have to keep moving lest you fail to get the notes right.

Ah, there we are. The beginning isn't too hard, but it only gets harder from here. At that point, two holds appear on left and right, but we jump in such a way that we're facing each other, glaring as we do, blindly smashing our hands down on the remaining notes, first one, then the other, and then both. Once done with that, we're back on our feet and hitting the notes in the same fashion as before, with our feet.

The rest of the song has a few fast paces in it, but other than that, it's pretty easy to make this one. If you know how the song goes, at least.

Upon finishing, there's a bit of applause here and there, with others shouting out approval at the show. Even Zero's Light seems impressed. Ha! That was nothing!

"Dammit!" I hiss when the score is revealed. Better not look at Zero; wouldn't want that grin of his to blind me. Looks like we're tied for now, but I'll fix that. And I so happen to know _just_ the song for it…

Moving forward to select a song, I pretend to have some difficulty, before I pick the one song I know he _hates_. And when I see him tense a little, I know that he realizes which I picked. Getting into position, we get ready for some serious stepping.

And there they are! Double left down up right up down left… gah! Stop that! Esh… J-E-N-O-V-A isn't considered a doozy on Challenge for nothing… it contains a high amount of holds, during which you also have to keep smashing your other foot on a different arrow for as long as the hold lasts before switching feet. It's exhausting after a while. (**3**)

Sure, there are points where it goes a little easier, but those never last long. Couple of doubles here and there, but otherwise it goes tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-you get the picture, right?

Anyway, once we're done with _that_ one, we have to lean back against the poles behind us lest we tumble to the ground. Damn… my legs are tingling… ahhh… that hurts… Not trying that again anytime soon…

I look up at the score as it's displayed, still panting for breath, before I let out a shout of victory. "Haha! I win!"

"Gawdfrickindammit!!" Zero cursed angrily. Heheh… sore loser. Though it'll probably take a while for these legs to be able to carry our weight again. Damn…

"Wow! That was amazing!" a familiar voice calls, making us look over. Ah, Axl's Light. Should've known. "How did you do that?!" he asks of us.

Zero just smirks. "Lotta skill."

I give him one look, then sigh and--

CLONK!!

--clock him over the head. "ITAI!!"

"You were asking for that one…" I mumble simply.

"Was not!"

I roll my eyes, ignoring the snickers from all around. Turning to the kid (technically; he's still just a kid) and say simply: "Three things, actually; practice, practice, and more practice."

The kid looks at me like he can't believe what I'm saying, before he asks: "That's it?"

I merely shrug. There's a lot more involved, but if you don't practice you'll never actually get anywhere. Not like I'm about to tell that to him. We don't need the extra competition.

…?

Turning, I frown at the far wall. …Was I imagining that shimmering sound just then?

A sudden poke in my side confirms that I hadn't. Glancing over to Zero from the corner of my eye, I raise an eyebrow in question, and he merely nods. "Well, might as well get goin', what say?" he says simply, putting his hands behind his head.

I shrug. "What say," I quip simply, nodding Zero's and Axl's Light goodbye as we head out without another word.

As we walk the halls, I whisper: "He was here, wasn't he?"

"Yeah… _was_. But who knows where he disappeared off to afterward…" he mumbles simply.

I just nod. That chameleon can disappear in the blink of an eye if he wants to, and I have a feeling he doesn't want to be found just yet. He'll show up when he's good and ready, and not a moment sooner…

"Oy, X?"

"Hn?"

"What say we head out later? See if… _it_ can be found."

…'it'? …Oh!

"Yeah, sure." Who knows? The place might have our ticket home.

* * *

SONG 1 "Beyond Abilities" by Warmen, Heavy, (check the dance here "http:// video.google. com/videoplay ?docid -6044766287 639703442&pl true" and remove all the spaces)

SONG 2 "Oceans of Time" from the Stepmix 1.0 on Stepmania (dot) com, Heavy.

SONG 3 "J-E-N-O-V-A" from Final Fantasy VII, Challenge, found in the "Game Pack" for Stepmania.

**

* * *

Okay okay!! I'm updating already! Esh… I never expected this to get so popular… sorry 'bout the delay, but I've been very very busy.**

Chapter 8 will NOT be posted on this site because of its contents. If you want to read it, go to nFiction (dot) com.

**One more thing; Warmen songs on DDR are SCARY!! shudders**


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